Indian Wells is rapidly approaching, with the prize money for the mixed doubles event in California now confirmed.
Hosted by Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the tournament represents a key stage of both the ATP and WTA seasons.
Combining the two, this year’s purse for its mixed doubles competition is highly reminiscent of that of the 2025 US Open.
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Indian Wells mixed doubles prize money rises to $1million
Indian Wells has almost tripled the prize money for mixed doubles in 2026, with the purse rising to $1million, as reported by Front Office Sports.
The huge total available, up from $370,000 in 2025 and $150,000 in 2024, aims to attract top singles players to the draw.
The 2025 US Open adopted the exact same approach to great success, although the winners of its mixed doubles event were awarded $1million.
That figure helped attract many ATP and WTA singles stars, including Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula and Naomi Osaka among many others.
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What happened in the controversial 2025 US Open mixed doubles event?
Tennis fans were shocked by the US Open mixed doubles lineup, with the format having undergone a major revamp for last year’s tournament.
It was moved to the first week of the Grand Slam, known as Fan Week, as opposed to during the singles and doubles main draw competition.
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Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong played host to the event, which definitely didn’t go down well with everyone.
Two-time mixed doubles Grand Slam champion Jan Zielinski slammed the US Open for its revamped edition, which also saw the number of pairings reduced from 32 to 16.
Notably, eight of those teams were based on singles rankings, with the other eight having received wildcards.
Rather fittingly, however, it was mixed doubles specialists Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori who lifted the trophy.
They successfully defended their title in New York, defeating Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud 6-3, 5-7, 10-6 in the 2025 US Open mixed doubles final.
It remains to be seen what the reaction will be to this year’s Indian Wells mixed doubles, where intriguingly Errani and Vavassori are once again the defending champions.
Many high-profile players have already committed to the ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 singles draws, with Indian Wells representing Carlos Alcaraz’s next tournament.
His fellow world number one Aryna Sabalenka will also be involved, along with the likes of Jannik Sinner, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Novak Djokovic and many more.
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