The tennis community are all flocking to Indian Wells this week for the BNP Paribas Open as we have a fortnight of tantalising tennis to feast our eyes upon. The women will compete in the first of five Premier Mandatory events this year, meanwhile the men will play in the first of nine Masters 1000 events. The status of these tournaments is rather confusing when you compare the WTA and ATP but basically, Indian Wells (along with Miami) are what I consider to be the tournaments immediately behind the four Grand Slam's in terms of importance.
Indian Wells is always pushing the boundaries; for example last year they were the first tournament on the calendar to have Hawkeye on all of the outside courts and this year, they are offering a whopping $1 million to the ATP and WTA Singles champions. A ridiculous amount of money if you ask me, but a clear indication of the intentions of the Indian Wells organisers to make this tournament a cut above the rest.
Indian Wells is always pushing the boundaries; for example last year they were the first tournament on the calendar to have Hawkeye on all of the outside courts and this year, they are offering a whopping $1 million to the ATP and WTA Singles champions. A ridiculous amount of money if you ask me, but a clear indication of the intentions of the Indian Wells organisers to make this tournament a cut above the rest.
Most of the top women will compete in Indian Wells although there are notable exceptions in Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Andrea Petkovic. Serena and Kim are both down to play in Miami, which follows Indian Wells in two weeks time. The ATP line-up boasts all the top names with only Robin Soderling missing who has sadly been forced to miss all of 2012 so far due to Mononucleosis. The main draw action will kick off on Wednesday for the WTA and Thursday for the ATP. The full schedule of play can be found below...
I believe that the WTA main draw will be released on Monday folloewed by my the ATP main draw on Tuesday. My predictions and previews will start appearing throughout the week! I plan to bring blogging coverage for the next two weeks and provide all the hot topics from Indian Wells... sit back and enjoy :-)
| DAY | DATE | WTA Rounds  |
ATP Rounds  |
STADIUM COURT |
OUTSIDE COURTS | |
DAY |
EVENING | |||||
| Mon | 5-Mar | Qualifying | 10:00am | |||
| Tue | 6-Mar | Qualifying | Qualifying | 10:00am | ||
| Wed | 7-Mar | 1st Rd | Qualifying | 11:00am | 11:00am | |
| Thur | 8-Mar | 1st Rd | 1st Rd | 11:00am | 7:00pm | 11:00am |
| Fri | 9-Mar | 2nd Rd | 1st Rd | 11:00am | 7:00pm | 11:00am |
| Sat | 10-Mar | 2nd Rd | 2nd Rd | 11:00am | 7:00pm | 11:00am |
| Sun | 11-Mar | 3rd Rd | 2nd Rd | 11:00am | 7:00pm | 11:00am |
| Mon | 12-Mar | 3rd Rd | 3rd Rd | 11:00am | 7:00pm | 11:00am |
| Tue | 13-Mar | Rd of 16 | 3rd Rd | 11:00am | 7:00pm | 11:00am |
| Wed | 14-Mar | Quarterfinals | Rd of 16 | 11:00am | 7:00pm | 11:00am |
| Thur | 15-Mar | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | 11:00am | 7:00pm | |
| Fri | 16-Mar | Semifinals | Quarterfinals | 11:00am | 6:00pm | |
| Sat | 17-Mar | Doubles Final | Semifinals; Doubles Final |
11:00am | ||
| Sun | 18-Mar | Final | Final | 11:00am | ||
Check out the Indian Wells Website where you can view schedules, entry lists and videos from last year's tournament to wet the appetite. I will try and provide video links to all the noteworthy tennis action over the coming weeks...
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