Indian Wells seeks its calendar spot later in 2021

For the second straight year, the so-called fifth Major in Indian Wells will not take place in March, seeking its spot in the calendar later in the season.

Due to the coronavirus, Indian Wells was the first tournament to close its gates in 2020, sending the players home and hoping for a fresh start in 2021. Instead of that, the organizers had to delay the first Masters 1000 event of the season for the second straight year, hoping to return later during the season.

The ATP released the updated calendar that includes March, and Indian Wells is not on the list, replaced by Doha, Marseille, Santiago, Acapulco and Dubai. Thus, Dominic Thiem remains the Indian Wells champion, prevailing over Roger Federer in March 2019 to lift the first Masters 1000 crown.

Stefan Edberg became the first Masters 1000 champion in the desert in 1990, followed by other great names like Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

"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 Toursands 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 finalized," said the organizers.