It has been known as ‘the fifth Grand Slam’ and now the organizers of the BNP Paribas Open are hoping that their tournament will one day be ungraded to a new category.
The Indian Wells tournament, which consists of 96 main draw players in both the men’s and women’s sections, has been in discussion with the ATP about upgrading the men’s tournament to a ‘Super Masters‘ event. Tournament director, Ray Moore, spoke to journalist Carole Bouchard about his recent meeting with the ATP.
“We talked to the ATP about that too. We’re very interested in having a different category so we can have more points and more prize money for the players.” Moore said in an interview with Bouchard.
It is hoped that the tournament will be classed higher than a Masters event, but still below the four traditional Grand Slam tournaments. Indian Wells has been a highly successful tournament in recent time, with a 2015 attendance of 456,672 visitors. The venue also has the fifth biggest tennis stadium in the world, with a capacity of 16,100.
The Californian tournament isn’t the only venue dreaming of a bigger status in the world of tennis. In 2015 the organizers of the Shanghai Masters also expressed their desire in one day becoming a ‘Super Masters’ tournament. The Chinese tournament is hosted at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in the autumn and has been a Masters 1000 event since 2009.
“We would like to become a male Grand Slam, a celebration of men’s tennis. With a larger prize pool, higher number of points, a category that would not compete with the Grand Slam tournaments but would work with them. You can not buy a place in the Grand Slam tournaments, they are the traditional, we are not trying to become the 5th Major but we want to create a new identity”. Tournament director Michael A. Luevano said in 2015.
Both Indian Wells and Shanghai have admitted that it is unlikely that their status will change before 2018, however, they are hopeful for a new promotion in 2019.
Current Masters Tournament structure
There are currently nine tournaments in the ATP Calendar which has a ‘Masters 1000’ status. The 1000 means that the winner of those tournaments will receive 1000 ranking points. It is currently the third highest tournament category in the men’s game after the ATP World Tour Finals and the four Grand Slam tournaments. The tournaments currently categorized as a Masters 1000 event are the following:-
Indian Wells Masters, California (Hardcourt)
Miami Open, USA (HardCourt)
Monte-Carlo Masters, France (Clay)
Madrid Masters, Spain (Clay)
Rome Masters, Italy (Clay)
Canadian Open, Toronto (Hardcourt)
Cincinnati Masters, USA (Hardcourt)
Shanghai Masters, China (Hardcourt)
Paris Masters, France (Hardcourt)
