Indian Wells adding 'very cool' mixed doubles invitational with $150,000 purse

Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open will see the start of a "very cool" initiative at the joint ATP and WTA 1000 event in the opinion of Coco Gauff's coach Brad Gilbert: a mixed doubles invitational with a $150,000 purse.

The eight teams set to compete in the knockout-format invitational include 11 doubles major-winners, as well as two teams who are couples off the court: Czechs Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac, and American-Aussie duo Desirae Kraczyk and Andrew Harris.

• Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Mate Pavic

• Daria Saville and John Peers

• Taylor Townsend and Jackson Withrow

• Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac

• Storm Hunter and Matthew Ebden

• Ena Shibahara and Joe Salisbury

• Caroline Garcia and Edouard Roger-Vasselin

• Desirae Krawczyk and Andrew Harris

Mixed doubles has been a fixture at the four Grand Slams even dating back prior the sport's Open Era, and first made a return to the Olympics in 2012, but hadn't ever made a lasting impression in ATP and WTA tour events until the advent of the season-opening United Cup in 2022. (The 2004 China Open hosted an invitational similar to Indian Wells, where no points were on offer, and it was won by American Tripp Phillips and Swiss Emmanuelle Gagliardi.)

United Cup, which features men and women competing for their country on teams, became the first mixed-gender team event to offer both ATP and WTA rankings points to its players, and replaced the Hopman Cup, which served as a similar tune-up (though as an exhibition) at the start of every tennis season from 1989 to 2019.

But might the latest innovation by the "fifth Grand Slam" lead to more mixed doubles around the tour? Only time will tell.