Federer wins again at the Indian Wells Pacific Life Open with Record Attendence (3/05)/ 2006 Preview
The results were the same as most all of Roger Federer’s matches as he continued his dominance. He is an astounding 44-1 (losing only to Safin at the Aussie Open in January) since the Athens Olympics. Actually, the only player even coming close is Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic-seeded 13th but coming in red hot after destroying the USA team the week before in the Davis Cup. Ljubicic had already reached 4 finals this year, winning one and losing the other 3 to Mr. Federer. He has taken him to 3 sets twice and lost some tough tiebreakers which made matters worse when he lost 7-6, 7-6 again. I talked to him after the match and he was calm yet frustrated. He told me he played his best and he still lost. He doesn’t know what to do he mentioned and was about to review the video tape of the match. It was very well played on both ends and in my opinion, Federer’s confidence and poise under pressure paid off in the tie-breakers as it seemed like Ljubicic got a bit tight.
Federer went on to beat Kiefer in the quarters; Canas in the semis; and Hewitt in the finals. He didn’t even lose a set in the tournament and has been dominant in most matches. Hewitt reached the finals after a walk over beating Agassi in the quarters, after Andre woke up with a swelled big toe that he could barely walk on. Andre is such a class act he gave a speech to the crowd and told them why he couldn’t play. So it was down to Roddick vs. Hewitt in the semi-finals and Hewitt has had Andys number for quite some time now. In a touch hard fought match, Hewitt pulled it out in a 3rd set tiebreaker in a 3 set, all tiebreaker set match.
In the womens draw, Kim Clijsters came back after being out injured for so long and defeated favorite and #1 seed Lindsay Davenport.
Mark Knowles and Daniel Nester captured the Mens Doubles defeating Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley in the finals. Arthur and Hanley came back after losing the first set to the crowd favorite Bryan Twins before taking the final 2 sets.
The tournament overcame average weather and rumors it was in trouble. Charlie Pasarell, who is in charge of this tourney told me that things are growing and they really want to keep this here in the desert, especially after record-breaking crowds.
DATES ANNOUNCED FOR 2006 PACIFIC LIFE OPEN
Annual Tennis Tournament Returns To The Indian Wells Tennis Garden March 6-19
INDIAN WELLS, Calif., April 12, 2005 – On the heels of its most successful event to
date, the Pacific Life Open today announced that next year’s tournament will be held
March 6-19, 2006, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The 2006 Pacific Life Open will
again be presented by the City of Indian Wells and will feature more than 250 of the
world’s top men’s and women’s players competing concurrently over a two-week period
with the women’s Sony Ericsson WTA Tour main draw beginning on Wednesday, March 8,
2006, and the men’s ATP main draw commencing on Friday, March 10.
Two weeks of exciting tennis action culminated on the women’s side of the tournament
with Kim Clijsters winning in decisive fashion over Lindsay Davenport. This was only
Clijsters second tournament since coming back from a wrist injury she suffered last
year at the Pacific Life Open. In the men’s draw, Roger Federer defeated Lleyton
Hewitt to win his second consecutive Pacific Life Open title and his fourth ATP title
of the year.
With such great tennis taking place on the court, fans flocked to the Tennis Garden
and set record attendance numbers for the 12-day, 20-session tournament. With
280,653 people entering the gates this year, the tournament surpassed last year’s
attendance total of 267,834 by 12,819. In addition, two daily ticket records were set on
Saturday, March 12 when 19,055 tickets (including grounds passes) were sold for the day
session and a total of 31,946 tickets were sold for both day and evening sessions.
Other significant milestones achieved at the 2005 Pacific Life Open include;
all-time high sponsorship sales, more than 48 hours of television coverage on ESPN, ESPN2
and The Tennis Channel, approximately 5,000 more cars parked on site, 23% increase in
food and beverage sales and 15% increase in retail sales.
"We are thrilled with the success of the 2005 Pacific Life Open," said Charlie
Pasarell, tournament director. "We are confident that the 2006 Pacific Life Open will
continue to build on the rich tradition that we have established here in the Southern
California desert."
About the Pacific Life Open
The first major tennis event of the season on U.S. soil, the Pacific Life Open, will
be held March 6-19, 2006, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif.
It is one of nine ATP Masters Series events on the ATP tour and a Tier I event on
the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. For tickets call the box office at
www.PacificLifeOpen.com
Click Here for our image gallery from the event.