Indian Wells, a small town located near the border of California and Arizona, is surrounded by the desert and blooms proudly like a rose.
For a long, long time, it was inaccessible due to the desert climate. Obviously, few people wanted to live in an isolated wilderness.
But later, as one of the most developed tennis areas in North America, people in California discovered that Indian Wells was particularly suitable for tennis.
With less precipitation and more sunshine, the dry environment and open landscape are like a paradise. Located in the middle of the desert, it is a true oasis.
Therefore, in 1987, the former American Airlines Tennis Series officially moved to Indian Wells. This event was first established in 1974. For reference, the ATP was established in 1973. From here we can see the origins of the event It has a long history and status in the industry.
In 1990, the ATP established the Champions Series for the first time. As the highest-level professional tour after the Grand Slams, Indian Wells was one of the first series members and has never left this ranks for thirty years. The venue maintains the highest level of hosting.
Things don't end here.
Later, exactly ten years later, the first music festival was held in a valley less than thirty minutes away from Indian Wells——
Coachella Music Festival.
Soon, Coachella evolved into the largest and most top-notch music event in North America, which made it impossible for this paradise town to hide itself. Bustling crowds of people flocked to this oasis. In just ten years, The permanent population has increased more than ten times, and it is noisy.
Today, Indian Wells has been fully developed. In addition to annual tennis events and music festivals, it has also developed desert adventure tourism routes. Tourists from all over the world can be seen coming here to experience the desert all year round. of unique charm.
The Indian Wells Tennis Open takes the greatest credit.
Indian Wells has always called itself the "Tennis Paradise" and welcomes players and tennis enthusiasts from all over the world with open arms.
Players who have actually played in Indian Wells may be full of questions:
Heaven?
Where did heaven come from?
This oasis is located in the middle of the vast desert. On the one hand, it means bright sunshine, pleasant climate, and refreshing experience, which brings a completely different experience.
But on the other hand, it also means gusty winds. "High winds" often play the role of troublemakers, disrupting the progress of the game, and this is more serious than in Dubai and Doha.
In this stadium, countless classic memes were born, and even professional players were stunned.
For example, when you stand on the baseline to hit the ball, your steps are already in place, and the moment the racket is about to touch the ball, the tennis ball is blown backwards and flies back towards the net, so that your steps are in a hurry to catch up, and you miss the ball.
For example, if a shot near the sideline went out of bounds, I would immediately follow up to ensure that the ball went out of bounds. However, I watched the strong wind blow the tennis ball back into bounds. I tried to hit the ball again but unfortunately missed it.
For example, the swing has been completed and the hitting point has been clearly found, but the result is that the swing is empty. I am looking for the tennis ball with question marks all over my head. I strongly wonder if I am blind and did not see the ball.
Among them, one of the most classic scenes should come from the confrontation between two American players in 2022.
Christopher Eubanks plays against Maxime Cressy in Cressy's fourth service game of the second set.
Cressy served normally, but when he threw the ball, he was affected by the wind direction. The hitting point was obviously deviated, he missed the sweet spot, and his racket head hit the tennis ball.
No matter how you look at it, these are anti-aircraft guns flying directly towards the spectator stands, and even Cressy himself is already preparing the second shot.
But he didn't expect that the strong wind would actually roll the tennis ball back. Not only did it enter the service area smoothly, but it also created a small ball effect close to the net. The most incredible thing is that it also had side spin and back spin.
Eubanks panicked and immediately rushed forward to try to catch the ball, but one deviation plus another, he was helpless and watched the tennis ball form an ace.
This must be the weirdest ace ever, both players and the audience were stunned.
It is conceivable that every ATP and every WTA player should have something to say about this venue. Everyone has experienced their own unique moments here——
Gale is anything but boring.
Therefore, this should not be a "tennis paradise", but a "windy tennis".
If you have to pick a "tennis paradise", obviously Miami, which has spring all year round and blue sea and blue sky, although it is also frequently affected by the strong winds of the Caribbean coast, is obviously more popular than Indian Wells as a vacation destination. Like a paradise.
So, what's going on?
Things need to be traced back to history.
In the 1990s, the Miami Open was undoubtedly the most watched event of the year, because the event was established in the 1960s. Judging from its history, scale, participating lineup, event organization, vacation and leisure, etc., this event was a breeze. stands out and is loved by players.
Since 2001, ATP has voted for the best tour of the year every year and classified it according to the level of the event. Among them, Monte Carlo stood out in the Masters category in the first year, but in the next five years, Miami won five consecutive championships, which once laid the foundation for The industry status of the event.
The title of "Fifth Grand Slam" spread like wildfire.
However, another member of the "Sunshine Double", Indian Wells, expressed dissatisfaction and even strong protest. They believed that Miami was not worth it.
To outsiders, to the ATP, and to the players, the two events are a packaged schedule, and the title of "Sunshine Double Crown" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people; but for the two events, their internal competition cannot be ignored. , in the final analysis, they are two separate events that have no relationship.
In 2000, Indian Wells spent $74 million to build a new Indian Wells Tennis Garden and fully upgraded its equipment.
However, they encountered the twists and turns of the bankruptcy of ATP's general sponsor. Originally, ATP promised that after the sponsorship funds were received, they would be distributed to various events in the form of subsidies to encourage them to update their courts and related equipment, but now this subsidy is gone. So much so that Indian Wells is in trouble.
The Indian Wells tournament director took the initiative and secured a title sponsor in 2002. From then on, the event was called the Pacific Life Insurance Cup; until the contract expired in 2008, the title sponsor was subsequently changed, and the event continued until BNP Paribas is now the sponsor.
Therefore, the Indian Wells Open is actually the BNP Paribas Open.
Now, Indian Wells and Miami are the only two "top" events throughout the year:
The main draw for both men and women is 128 draws, which is comparable to the Grand Slam. The only difference is that the top 32 seeds get a bye in the first round.
This also means that the status of the "Sunshine Double Crown" is indeed different.
However, the development of the two events showed completely different curves, and the gap even gradually widened, and Indian Wells sounded the horn of counterattack.
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