BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament rescheduled for October 2021 at Indian Wells

Tennis fans, you have some dates to mark. After 31 months, professional tennis will return to Indian Wells, California, this October.

The BNP Paribas Open, initially planned for March 8-21, has been re-scheduled for October at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the tournament announced Thursday, following months of speculation.

Specific dates have not yet been announced. 

“We are ecstatic to have the opportunity to hold the BNP Paribas Open in October and bring professional tennis back to the desert,” tournament director Tommy Haas said. “We have never wavered in our desire to create an unforgettable experience this fall in Tennis Paradise for our fans, players and sponsors.”

Ticket packages for October’s event are expected to go on sale on June 21. Specific dates for the tournament are expected to be finalized in mid-June. The tournament is working with the men’s and women’s tennis tours on those details. 

was called off for the second consecutive year on Dec. 29, 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The idea, the tournament stated at the time, was to get back onto the World Tour schedule later this year, once a reduced number of cases in California allowed stadiums to be filled at higher capacity.

The event will be the first in Indian Wells since March 2019, when Canada’s Bianca Andreescu won her first major tournament prior to winning the U.S. Open. Dominic Thiem won the men’s event for his biggest singles title before winning the U.S. Open last September.

was the first major American sporting event to be canceled in early 2020 amid the global pandemic. The NBA and NHL then paused their seasons, before resuming months later, and MLB delayed the start of its season for four months.

Since professional tennis was last played in Indian Wells, three ANA Inspiration golf tournaments have been held in Rancho Mirage, including two without spectators. The NBA and NHL have completed the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons and are nearing completion of the 2020-21 season. MLB has played its 2019 and 2020 seasons and is approaching the middle of its 2021 season. 

BNP Paribas Open organizers, including owner and billionaire tech mogul Larry Ellison, had hoped to re-schedule the canceled 2020 event for later in the year, but it never came together. With more time to plan, a re-scheduled date came together this year, with the help of the Women’s Tennis Association and the Association of Tennis Professionals. 

Over the last five months, much has changed in California regarding sporting events and how many fans are able to congregate together. Tennis will resume in the desert following widespread distribution of the coronavirus vaccine that has aided in a reduction of cases in Riverside County and across the county.

The county progressed into the moderate level — the orange tier — of the state’s four-tiered, color-coded reopening plan April 7, which would allow live performance venues that hold fewer than 1,500 people to operate at 15% capacity and those that can hold more than 1,500 to operate at 10% capacity. The limits for both of these venue groups increases to 35% if everyone attending is tested for COVID-19 or can show proof of full vaccination.

California officials plan to fully reopen the state’s economy June 15 if there is enough vaccine supply for all eligible residents. 

More than 37% of Riverside County residents ages 12 and older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with 46.1% of residents partially vaccinated, according to county data Wednesday.

A 2020 report from Development Management Group, Inc. found that the local economy will likely lose roughly $1.4 billion from the cancellations of Coachella and Stagecoach in 2020 and 2021. Another roughly $400 million was likely lost from the cancellation of the BNP Paribas Open last year, according to a 2017 report by DMG.

Among the top 2021 storylines will be which star tennis players will even play this year at Indian Wells. Roger Federer and Serena Williams, perhaps the two greatest players of their era, will both be 40 by the time this year’s BNP Paribas Open is played. The two have won 43 combined Grand Slam singles titles. Venus Williams, who has won seven majors in singles, is 41.

Thiem and Andreescu are expected to return to defend their 2019 singles titles. Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked men’s player, and Naomi Osaka are each coming off singles titles at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year. 

Djokovic and Federer would both be seeking to add to their shared record of five singles titles at Indian Wells, if they were to play. Serena Williams, Federer, Djokovic and 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal were among those who did not play in late March and early April at the Miami Open. 

The full entry list will not be released until about five weeks before the tournament.

This is a developing story. 

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