Tennis Event First To Award $1m Prize

The BNP Paribas Open in the United States is set to become the first
tournament to be jointly staged by the Association of Tennis
Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to award
both the men’s and women’s singles champions $1m in prize
money.

Prize money has been increased for all rounds of the
competition, but the million dollar prize on offer for the winners means
the tournament will be the first combined tennis event outside the
International Tennis Federation-operated Grand Slams to offer such a
reward.

The California-based event will take place from 5th to 18th March 2012, with the competition staged in Indian Wells.

The
total purse for the 2012 tournament will increase to more than $11m,
with the runners-up receiving $500,000, the semi-finalists earning
$200,000 and the quarter-finalists pocketing $100,000.

This year, world number one’s Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki triumphed in the men’s and women’s tournament.