Tennis

Tennis - Indian Wells Masters: All You Need To Know

bet365 News Team Mar 06 2022

March is an action-packed month in the tennis calendar and it gets underway with a bang as the best male and female tennis players on the planet head to California to compete for silverware at the Indian Wells Masters.

This is the first of four Premier Mandatory events to take place this season and its heavyweight status means it carries great significance in terms of the world rankings on both the ATP and WTA Tours.

We have compiled a list of questions to tell you all you need to know about this month's hard-court event.

Where is it?

Also known as the Indian Wells Open or BNP Paribas Open, this annual tennis tournament takes place at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States.

The location, which was built in 2000, has 29 tennis courts, which includes a 16,000-seat main stadium. That is the second largest tennis-specific stadium in the world behind the Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows.

When is it?

The main draw of this year's Indian Wells is set to begin on 7th March and will run until 20th March.

How much prize money is on offer?

The men's event is worth $9,146,125 to the champion, while the winner of the women's event takes home $8,761,725.

Where can it be watched?

The Indian Wells Masters will be broadcast on Amazon Prime in the UK, while action can also be followed via our Live Sports Streaming Service.

How many players play?

The men's singles tournament features 96 players which includes 32 seeds and 12 qualifiers and the same goes for the women's singles tournament.

Who is playing in the Indian Wells Masters?

Men's world number two Novak Djokovic, priced 9/4 for the French Open, and women's world number one Ashleigh Barty are two notable absentees but otherwise the stars are out in force.

Daniil Medvedev, who recently replaced Djokvovic as the world number one, and Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal, who remains unbeaten in 2022, are the two leading lights in the men's event.

Roger Federer and Kei Nishikrori have also been forced to skip the Californian competition, but Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini, Andrey Rublev and Felix Auger-Aliassime will be in attendance.

Barty's absence is a big blow from the women's field and her Australian Open final victim Danielle Collins has also ruled herself out.

However, Japanese superstar Naomi Osaka and former Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin have been handed wildcards to bolster a field already featuring nine of the world's top ten.

Anett Kontaveit, Iga Swiatek, Maria Sakkari and Aryna Sabalenka four obvious contenders to take the title.

Related Tennis News

Tennis: Top stars in short supply this week

Tennis: Big guns out in force as Djokovic returns

Tennis: Dubai sees Djokovic return to action

Australian Open: Record-breaking Rafa

Who are the defending champions?

British number one Cameron Norrie sprung a surprise when winning the Indian Well Masters last year, with the South African-born star coming from a set down to defeat Nikoloz Basilashvili in the final.

Norrie had defeated Diego Schwartzman in the quarter-finals and Grigor Dimitrov in the last four, and arrives for his title defence in decent form having won in Delray Beach last month. The world number 12 followed that up with a run to the final in Acapulco, where he lost to Nadal.

On the WTA Tour, Spanish star Paula Badosa is the defending champion. She defeated Victoria Azarenka in her title decider, having previously recorded wins over Cori Gauff, Barbora Krejcíkova, Angelique Kerber and Ons Jabeur.

Tournament preview

With the draw yet to be finalised, pinpointing a winner is tough. However, Nadal must be on the radar of many.

Having won the Australian Open, Nadal followed up with a title triumph in Acapulco and he appears to be operating at the peak of his powers. The Spaniard is unbeaten in 15 matches in 2022 and that winning sequence includes two wins over tournament favourite Medvedev.

In the women's event, Anett Kontaveit, who won her fifth title in just over a year when winning in St Petersburg last month, is the star attraction and must be on the radar of many.