Indian Wells 2020 Masters 1000 Tennis Tournament
Background on Indian Wells Venue
Indian Wells Masters 1000 is the first of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments. IW takes place in mid-March. It has the 2nd largest permanent tennis stadium in the world after Arthur Ashe Stadium. The tournament has won the ATP Tour Masters 1000 Tournament of the Year Award since 2014. It is loved by the Fans & The Players.
Location: Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells near Palm Springs, California
Main Stadium Seating Capacity: 16,100
Surface: Hard
Most Titles Won: Roger Federer (05) & Novak Djokovic (05)
Most Finals Played: Roger Federer (09)
2019 Champion: Dominic Thiem
Indian Wells 2019
Dominic Thiem was seeded 7 at the 2019 Indian Wells. He defeated Jordan Thompson, Gilles Simon, Ivo Karlovic in the early rounds. He got a walkover in the quarterfinal against Gael Monfils. In the semifinal, Thiem faced Canadian Milos Raonic. The match went into the deciding set after both the players took each set in the tie break. Thiem eventually came out as winner after taking the 3rd set 6-4.
Roger Federer looked to break his own record of oldest Indian Wells Masters 1000 champion, which he made in the 2017 edition. After taking the opening set 6-3, Federer looked all set for a record 6th title but Thiem fought back taking the 2nd set 6-3 and putting the final match into the decider. At 5-5 games all, Thiem broke Federer’s serve and went on to win the title.
2019 Indian Wells was Dominic Thiem’s first Masters 1000 title.
Dominic Thiem became the first Austrian player to win the Masters 1000 title since Thomas Muster who won Miami Open back in 1997.
Potential 2020 Indian Wells First Time Champions:
Novak Djokovic looks well set to win his 6th Indian Wells title after his stunning unbeaten run in 2020. However, few new players might be in contention to lift the trophy for the first time.
Daniil Medvedev
Previous beat result = 3rd round (2019)
2019: Had a stellar 2019 reaching 9 finals & winning 4. He reached career high ranking of 4.
2020: Helped Russia in reaching the semifinal stage of ATP Cup, reached the 4th round of Australian Open
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Previous best result = 2nd round (2019)
2019: Reached 6 finals winning 3 of them including ATP Tour Finals
2020: Won Open 13 tournament in France and lost the final of Dubai Tennis Championships against Novak Djokovic
Alexander Zverev
Previous best result = 4th round (2016)
Had won 3 Masters 1000 titles and has defeated all Big 3 players
2020: Had reached the semifinal of Australian Open for the first time
Bianca Andreescu and The Indian Wells WTA
Bianca Andreescu is the 4th seed at the Indian Wells 2020.
2019: Had a stellar 2019, winning 2 Masters 1000 titles (Indian Wells & Canadian Open) and US Open
Bianca started her 2019 campaign with Auckland final losing to Julia Gorges. Although not considered a promising player until she won her 1st title of her career at Indian Wells last year. She reached the Canadian Open final where she won after Serena Williams retired. A month later both the women were again meeting, this time at the US Open final. This time, the final was evenly contested and the teenager beat the old veteran in two sets.
Andreescu had to withdrew from this year’s Australian Open because of the knee injury. However, seeded 4th at the Indian Wells, with the likes of Ashleigh Barty, Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Sofia Kenin, Elina Svitolina it will be tough for the Canadian and since she is returning from the injury the tournament will truly test her game and character and it will not be an easy task to defend her title.