The Indian Wells Masters, as it is most commonly known, or the BNP Paribas Open if you want to use its current sponsored title (correct as of 2016) is one of the biggest events on the tennis calendar. It is one of the nine Masters 1000 series events on the men’s tour and is classified as a Premier Mandatory tournament for the women. Here our focus is solely on the ATP Tour version of the event, held in Indian Wells, California, as we provide you with a tournament overview, including history, key facts and a little betting information too.
For those that like a flutter, let us cut right to the gambling chase. Outside of the four majors, Indian Wells is one of the biggest and best tournaments around. As one of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events it offers huge prize money, massive crowds, and the best players in the world and, as a consequence, receives lots of attention from bookmakers.
There isn’t the same range of offers and promotions as you would get at one of the Slams but in terms of live streaming, in-play betting, range of markets and overall coverage, Indian Wells is right up there. If you fancy a bet then be sure to use our live odds comparison as this will save you time and make getting the best odds as quick and easy as possible.
The 2016 BNP Paribas Open will see almost all of the best male tennis players in the world compete for the $1m winner’s prize. The event is the “largest two-week combined ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and WTA Premier professional tennis tournament in the world” according to the official website and is a great early season guide to who to watch through the spring months as the build up to the French Open begins.
In 2016, 17 of the top 20 men in the world will head to California, with Roger Federer, David Ferrer and Kevin Anderson the key absentees. As well as the huge amount of cash up for grabs, there are also 1000 ranking points available to the winners. Only the four Grand Slam events offer more points to the winners and the nine Masters 1000 tournaments offer players a huge chance to claim valuable points and climb up the world rankings.
Played on the hard courts of the Indian Wells Tennis garden facility, the BNP Paribas Open sees 96 players take part, with the 32 seeded players heading straight into the second round. The event was founded back in 1974 and is one of the best attended tennis tournaments in the world. It has gone by several previous names, the inaugural tournament being known as the American Airlines Tennis Games and is a genuine highlight of the year for tennis fans around the globe.
It moved to Indian Wells in 1987, when Boris Becker won the first of two consecutive titles but it is Federer and Djokovic who share the record for the most wins in this event. Both men have won this one four times and with the Swiss supremo absent, the Serbian world number one has the chance to claim a record fifth title, and third in a row.
Whatever happens during the fortnight of action you can be guaranteed of lots of great tennis and even more brilliant betting opportunities.