"We're here... We're not going anyplace... and we're going for it".
-Billie Jean King

The Event

The world of professional tennis has come a long way since the beginning of its open era in the late sixties….only forty years ago. And, almost at the same time, a professional men’s tournament was emerging in the Southern California desert. Located in the second largest market in the country, it has evolved into the 5th most attended tennis tournament in the world including the four Grand Slams. The Indian Wells Tennis Tournament is a two-week combined ATP Masters Series and Sony Ericsson WTA Premier event featuring the top men and women professional players competing in a 96 singles draw and 32 doubles draw. The event is hosted at the magnificent Indian Wells Tennis Garden, located in the beautiful Southern California desert. Of the 22 sessions played, attendance is taken from only 20 sessions and in 2008 the event attracted over 330,000 tennis fans. The event provided over $5.5 million in prize money in 2008 and in 2009 it will offer equal prize money totaling $9 million.

"If you are a fan of the sport of tennis or just sport it is difficult not to be seduced by Charlie Pasarell’s dream in the desert. If this is not tennis Camelot, you can see it from here."
-Bill Dwyre, Past Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times

The Site

Indian Wells Tennis Garden: Charlie Pasarell’s vision together with his partner Raymond Moore, the late Mark McCormack and former partners, IMG to build a $78 million, 89 acre state-of the-art tennis stadium with private funding in 2000. Considered to be one of the most spectacular settings in the world, it is the second largest tennis stadium with 16,100 seats. The site includes a total of (22) courts, a year-round tennis club membership and is the host site for USTA and collegiate events outside of the professional tennis tournament. The beautiful landscaped grounds and stadium has also been the host site for musical artists Pavarotti, Bocelli, the Boston Pops, The Who, Tom Petty and the Eagles.

History