INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — There’s a reason why tennis tournaments are increasingly turning to mixed doubles.
The mixed doubles event Tuesday—officially the Eisenhower Cup aat the BNP Paribas Open—drew a near sellout crowd of 7,100 to Stadium 2, despite it being a weeknight exhibition on the eve of the tournament’s main draw. It was the sixth iteration of the event, which debuted as a singles exhibition in 2019, before it was converted to mixed doubles in 2023.
“Seeing a full crowd for an event like this, it makes me happy,” men’s world No. 7 Taylor Fritz said during the exhibition. The Southern California native, who is also the top-ranked American man, won the event for the second consecutive year alongside women’s world No. 3 Elena Rybakina.
The exhibition has been able to draw fans in as a rare opportunity to see many of the top stars on the same court in one night. Joining Fritz on the list of top-ranked Americans were Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul, Learner Tien, Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova, and Emma Navarro. Other international stars included women’s No. 2 Iga Świątek and men’s No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime.
“I think we have seen that over the last couple of years as all these mixed doubles events have come out that it is a great way for fan engagement,” Pegula said Tuesday afternoon, ahead of the Eisenhower Cup. “I think it’s, if not the only sport where men and women are playing against each other on the same court, I think that’s something that’s really unique about our sport and something we should keep embracing to bring fans in and draw fans in.”
The stars did have a possible financial incentive to add the extra workday to their Indian Wells schedule.
The Eisenhower Cup champions received $200,000, a sizable prize for about two hours of work. The event’s Tie Break Tens format—which is first-to-ten, win by two—ensured the winning duo would only play a few dozen games over three matches before taking home the prize.
There was little downside to losing other than going home empty-handed as first round exits gave players the option to head home without breaking much of a sweat. Italian duo Matteo Berrettini and Jasmine Paolini exited the court immediately after their first round loss as the former is scheduled to play in the singles main draw tomorrow.
But the prize money brought enough serious effort from the players. In the first round, Pegula and Paul, down match point to Alexander Bublik and Mirra Andreeva, had a sincere regroup in an attempt to salvage a win. (They would go on to lose that match point.)
The Eisenhower Cup is the first of two mixed doubles events at the BNP Paribas Open. The official mixed doubles tournament starts March 10, and will feature a $1 million prize pool, nearly three times more than last year ($370,000). The prize pool was $150,000 when the event debuted in 2024.
The tournament’s chief marketing officer Philippe Dore told Front Office Sports last week that they want to “for sure” attract singles stars to their event.
“Part of our strategy is to have more tennis, because as we know, as we go into the second week, we start losing [players],” Dore said.
