Indian Wells will become the first ATP event to offer prize money of $1 million to the men's and women's singles champions in 2012.
The BNP Paribas Open has grown from strength to strength over the years and each season, packed and knowledge tennis crowds turn out to watch the action. As a result the tournament has been able to increase the total 2012 prize money pot by as much as $2 million dollars.
“Becoming the first combined ATP World Tour and WTA event to award $1 Million to each singles champion and reach these overall prize money levels is a testament to the growth and success of the event for more than 35 years,” Indian Wells tournament director Steve Simon told the press.
Charismatic WTA chairman Stacey Allaster was quick to praise the news. “The BNP Paribas Open has been raising the bar for the sport over the course of the past four decades, and today's $1 million winners' prize money announcement represents yet another historic milestone,” she said.
However these increases only widen the differences between those at the top of the game and those competing at the lower levels. Speak to any players on the challenger and futures circuit and the common complaint is that prize money stays static even with inflation while the pots on offer to the sport's millionaires are always on the increase.
Even the likes of Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Murray once served their time at the lower levels and as well as rewarding its global stars, the Tour has to make sure that it's financially viable to compete on the second and third tiers of men's tennis. With the game becoming ever more physically demanding, it's taking longer and longer for players to break through on the world stage.
