Indian Wells Gains Stature in Expansion

The men’s draw for the $2.95-million Pacific Life Open tennis tournament at Indian Wells will be expanded from 64 to 96 players beginning in 2004 in accordance with a new 50-year agreement between tournament and ATP tour officials, it will be formally announced today.

With the agreement, the top-tier tournament played the first two weeks of March will become one of only two multiple-week, combined men’s and women’s events in professional tennis, other than the four Grand Slam tournaments. The other is another Tennis Masters Series event, in Miami, and also in March.

“I think it’s going to bring Grand Slam-type tennis to the West Coast. It will develop into that,” said Charlie Pasarell, Pacific Life tournament director.

Previously, the Pacific Life tournament was a joint men’s and women’s venture with $5.1 million in prize money, but play was staggered because the men’s portion was a one-week competition while the women’s 96-player draw played 10 days over two weeks.

“We feel like tennis needed more combined events,” Pasarell said. “Now we’re 100% combined.”

The larger draw means the number of night sessions will increase from the current five to eight. Night sessions will be played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the first week in addition to the usual Monday-Friday schedule in the second week.

Prize money for the men’s competition currently is $2.95 million overall, with a winner’s purse of nearly $400,000.

The purses are expected to increase, to as much as $600,000 for the winner, and by as much as $3 million overall over the next six years, according to Pasarell.

The combined tournament will be worth more than $8 million.

Changes have been considered for some time, and are part of a push by tour officials to eventually bring to four the number of non-Grand Slam events that are combined and two weeks in length.

Pasarell, a member of the ATP board of directors, said tennis officials probably will look to Europe in considering other venues for two other similar events.

“It’s kind of a race, and subject to availability of a good facility,” Pasarell said.

A key impetus for ATP sanctioning of the changes in the Pacific Life tournament occurred in 2000, with the completion of a $70-million, 16,000-seat stadium at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

“There’s no way they would sanction an event like this otherwise,” said Pasarell.