Indian Wells preview: One week to go

Indian Wells is often dubbed the ‘fifth slam’, or ‘the slam in the west’. The ATP masters event has the most attendance of any non-major tournament, with mandatory attendance for the top players and some prolific winners in the past. 
 
The event is held on hardcourt, and the main court, stadium 1, being the second largest permanent tennis stadium after Arthur Ashe.
 
Indian Wells has been held in Indian Wells since 1987, in California since 1976, and the very first edition dates back to 1974, when it was held in Arizona.
 
Last year’s event was one of the unfortunate victims of the coronavirus. This year the tournament is being held later in the year because of COVID-19. The Tournament begins on the October 4.
 
The last winner in both the men’s (Dominic Thiem) and women’s (Bianca Andreescu) singles went on to win the US Open, this naturally draws the comparison with Raducanu.
 
The Event has a 47-year history, Federer and Djokovic both hold five singles titles, and they divide up the majority of the other Indian Wells records as well. Most finals and oldest winner belong to Federer, most consecutive match wins and highest win percentage belong to Djokovic. 

The women’s singles has plenty of two-time winners in its history. Lindsay Davenport and Martina Navratilova have had the most success here, both are also two-time winners. Davenport made six Indian Wells finals in her career, and Navratilova being the only woman to defend a title.
 
No Indian Wells tournament has ever been won by a Brit, though three men have made the final; Rusedski, Henman, and Murray.
 
In the 2019 men’s final, Dominic Thiem beat Roger Federer in three sets; 3–6, 6–3, 7–5.