Indian Wells Betting

The Indian Wells Masters, or BNP Paribas Open to give it its official title, is a prestigious hard court tennis tournament usually held in the second week of March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California, USA.

It is the first of nine ATP Masters 1000 events on the Men’s tour and is the biggest event to follow on from January’s Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the calendar.

Inaugurated as the American Airlines Tennis Games in 1974 when John Newcombe ruled supreme at the expense of Arthur Ashe, the event has gathered a huge amount of popularity and recognition throughout its history and is indeed regarded as the most well spectated tennis competition outside of the four majors, thanks largely to the impressive venue which boasts the second biggest tennis arena in the world.

Serbian ace Novak Djokovic is the reigning champion after he toppled arch rival Rafael Nadal over three sets in 2011.

Currently, a total of 96 players are included in the draw with the top 32 seeds obtaining a bye through to the second stage. This allows many of the lower ranked participants and qualifiers a chance to impress during the first round and potentially set up a lucrative clash with one of the star names in the last 64.

Ultimately however, records will tell you that the winner is likely to surface from amongst the sport’s elite, with the high flyer’s keen to set a marker for the busy season ahead and register the crucial 1000 ranking points which are on offer for the champion. Past results quite clearly indicate that players at the very top of the game rarely fail to disappoint having dominated the roll of honour.

American star Jimmy Connors lifted the title three times in The Golden State whilst in his pomp, a feat which has been matched in subsequent years by the cultured Michael Chang and the always imperious sixteen times Slam winner Roger Federer.

Aussie favourite Lleyton Hewitt bagged two consecutive titles in 2002 and 2003 during his small period of dominance on the tour, as did legend ‘Pistol’ Pete Sampras who walked away with the winners cheque in 1994 and 1995.

This trend, coupled with the fact that hard hitting, forehand specialists are suited by the conditions, makes the outcome of the event fairly predictable year after year from a betting perspective.

Indeed, the only occasion in recent times where a relative outsider won came in 2010 courtesy of the powerful Croat Ivan Ljubicic, who defeated the world’s fastest server Andy Roddick in front of the American’s partisan supporters.

It is obviously important to take current form into account, as rankings are not always reflective of this due to their current long term format.

A strong performance at the preceding Australian Open is a welcome boost to any selection made and perhaps the only factor which can truly separate the world’s top four or five players ahead of the action.

With the tennis calendar just over two months old, players by this time are starting to find optimum form, fitness and rhythm, so it is advisable to seek the player who has made the smoothest headway so far, as they are likely to continue gaining momentum leading into the spring.

It is also wise to take note of certain results and form in the tournament as this can provide useful betting information considering that a similar type of event in the shape of the Miami Masters follows on from Indian Wells at the back end of the month.

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