A Brief History of the 2011 BNP Paribas Open : Part II
The Indian Wells Masters, or the 2011 BNP Paribas Open will commence in the following week at the world’s second largest theatre, the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens. The tournament is regarded as one of the biggest tennis events apart from the Grand Slams,
and is held annually in Coachella Valley, California.
The 2011 BNP Paribas Open is played on hard courts, and has a rich history where women’s tennis is concerned. It was first held in 1989, when nine female players (now called The Original Nine Dollars) rallied to ask for equal prize money on the women’s
division. It was called the Virginia Slims of Indian Wells, and became the Virginia Slims of Palm Springs in 1991.
The tournament was renamed the Matrix Essentials Evert Cup from 1992 to 1993, and had variations of Chris Evert’s name up till 1999 to pay tribute to the tennis legend. From 2000 to 2001, it was known on the tennis circuit as the Tennis Masters Series.
It later became the Pacific Life Open from 2002 to 2008. It has been known as the BNP Paribas Open for three years now.
The tournament is also one of the few events which awards more prize money to Women’s Tennis Association [WTA] players than it does to its Association of Tennis Professionals [ATP] counterparts. The event is one of the most-attended tournaments in
the tennis world, recording an impressive 339,657 tennis fans at the 2010 tournament.
The BNP Paribas Open became the first tournament outside the Grand Slams to attract more than 300,000 fans in 2009, and broke its own record in the following year. The venue also consists of 20 tennis courts and one main stadium, as well as two smaller
ones.
The BNP Paribas Open was also included in the Grand Prix Tennis Circuit from 1974 to 1990. The Indian Wells event and the Key Biscayne tournament are the only two tour tournaments which involve such a large main draw. The women’s divisions maps out
a 128-player grid with 96 players, and 32 seeded players. All 32 seeds receive a bye in the first round of the tournament. The tournament lasts a total of 12 days, with the women’s matches traditionally beginning on Wednesday.
The tournament has been won twice by Americans Steffi Graf and Serena Williams, as well as Belgian pro Kim Clijsters. Lindsay Davenport has also lifted the trophy for the BNP Paribas Open on two different occasions.
Last year, Jelena Jankovic managed to defeat current World Number 1 Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 and take away the title. She will defend her title in the following week, after losing the Abierto de Tenis Monterrey title to Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova.
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