Indian Wells, Queen’s & Stockholm Named 2018 Tournaments Of The Year
The BNP Paribas Open, Fever-Tree Championships and Intrum Stockholm Open have been named Tournament of the Year in their respective categories in the 2018 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët and Chandon. The tournament awards, voted annually by ATP players, recognise the leading standards set across events on the ATP World Tour.
The BNP Paribas Open wins in the Masters 1000 category for a fifth straight year. Ahead of the 2018 tournament, the BNP Paribas Open unveiled a brand-new “Full Bloom” marketing campaign that highlighted the world-class venue and players set amidst the stunning natural beauty and backdrop of the desert landscape. In parallel, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden underwent a beautification project to further amplify the feeling of Tennis Paradise. Inside Stadium 1, video walls were replaced and upgraded to complement the action on court. Earlier this year, BNP Paribas extended its title sponsorship of the tournament through 2023.
“We are honoured and humbled that for the fifth straight year, our event has been recognised by the players as Tournament of the Year,” Tournament Director Tommy Haas said. “Our entire staff works incredibly hard to deliver a world-class experience, and our goal will be to make the 2019 event even better this March.”
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The Fever-Tree Championships reclaims the distinction as Tournament of the Year after previously winning in the ATP World Tour 500 category in 2015-16 and the 250 category in 2013-14. The grass-court event has been staged for more than a century at The Queen’s Club in London, and has increased its centre court capacity by more than 30 per cent over the last two years. In 2018, the tournament welcomed Fever-Tree, the premium mixer drinks company, as its title sponsor.
Stephen Farrow, Fever-Tree Championships Tournament Director, said: “The ATP-500 category is full of excellent tournaments, so for the players to vote the Fever-Tree Championships as their favourite event is immensely satisfying for everyone involved, particularly our tireless tournament team and The Queen’s Club grounds staff who maintain our magnificent grass courts year after year. I’d like to thank the players for voting for us, and our spectators, sponsors and media partners for their support.
“The Lawn Tennis Association has a vision to open up tennis in Britain to anyone with an interest, from players of all abilities and backgrounds to its millions of fans. As part of that vision, we want to entice people who have never experienced live tennis to come along to our tournaments and see it for themselves in 2019.”
The Intrum Stockholm Open wins the Tournament of the Year award in the 250 category for the second time. It previously shared the honour with the Winston-Salem Open in 2016. The indoor hard-court tournament marked its 50th anniversary this year. With the help of new tournament promoter Game Set Events, it celebrated unique moments of the tournament, including interviews on court with Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg.
“On behalf of Stockholm Open AB and Game Set Events I want to thank everyone involved in planning and delivering this event,” said Tournament Director Simon Aspelin. “It is such an honour to receive this award from the players and makes us very happy as we want all players to feel at home enjoying the best Swedish hospitality. A special thanks to all our loyal sponsors, volunteers and spectators for making this event possible and pushing us to keep improving every year.”