Indian Wells tournament sets attendance record

Indian Wells set an all-time attendance record with 504 268 tennis fans passing through the gates during the fortnight, tournament organisers said on Sunday.

The previous record total was 493 440 set last year at the 2024 event, organisers added.

The tournament in the California desert is popular with fans, who flock every March to the palm tree-lined Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and players, who have voted it their favourite ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 event in each of the past 10 years.

French bank BNP Paribas announced on Friday that it had renewed its title sponsorship with the tournament through 2029.

The event is known as the unofficial fifth Grand Slam and the singles were won this year by Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva and rising English prospect Jack Draper.

Founded in 1974, the tournament and facility were transformed after being purchased in 2009 by American billionaire and tennis enthusiast Larry Ellison for $100 million.

Ellison has since pumped tens of millions of dollars into a tournament dubbed "Tennis Paradise."