The 2021 edition of the BNP Paribas Open, popularly called the Indian Wells Masters, has been postponed.

Indian Wells is one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments, attracting a lot of top-ranked players and fans from around the world. This year’s edition of the tournament was cancelled after two rounds due to the pandemic. Next year’s Indian Wells has also been postponed due to concerns over the pandemic and after due consultation with health officials in California.

The Indian Wells is a tournament for both WTA and ATP players. Next year’s event was initially slated to hold from March 8 – 21 and no new date has been brought forward as the rescheduled date, although some options are being explored now.

A statement by the organizers of the event reads, “The BNP Paribas Open will not be held March 8-21, 2021 as originally scheduled. The tournament is proactively working with the ATP and WTA Tours as well as title sponsor BNP Paribas to confirm dates later in the year to hold the event. Details will be released in the near future as plans are finalised. This decision was made after thorough consultation with state and local health authorities and tournament owner Larry Ellison.”

This is the second 2021 event we are seeing postponed. The Australian Grand Prix has been postponed from January to February 8 to allow players to arrive in Australia, observe the mandated quarantine period, and still have time to train. The New York Open, meant to hold in February has been cancelled.

In the coming weeks, we are expecting to see the postponement or outright cancellation of some events, both on the ATP or WTA side. This might continue for some time as tennis organizers try to find a way to hold events in a world with a ravaging pandemic.

Written by: Leon Osamor