Tennis fans criticise Indian Wells for change they have made this year, ‘they will regret that’

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Indian Wells have received huge backlash for a change they have made to ticketing at this year’s tournament.

Day one of the 2026 tournament has already caused some surprise results, with all five American women losing their matches, but that was not the only talking point.

Indian Wells is one of the biggest tennis tournaments on the calendar, and is sometimes referred to as ‘the fifth Grand Slam’.

Despite this, ground passes enabled fans to access the second biggest show court, but the tournament has now stopped this for 2026.

Indian Wells receives backlash for changing show court ticketing

Indian Wells has 29 hard courts in total, with nine of those utilised for matches.

The ground pass would have enabled fans to access all of these courts other than Stadium 1, which is the biggest show court at the tournament.

However, fans at Indian Wells are now no longer able to access Stadium 2 either with their ground pass, with this decision being hugely criticised on social media.

Tennis fans took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express their frustration with Indian Wells for this decision, and point out the lack of fans in the stands on day one of the 2026 tournament.

One wrote, “It’s sad in a way. Stadium #2 was so vibrant, filled with good energy.”

Someone else added, “No wonder they’re so empty…”

An additional social media user wrote, “They should be making tournaments accessible, especially the first couple rounds…Stadium 2 always was packed and exciting…true tennis fans, now on TV..it will just look empty like all the other tournaments who have out priced the fans.”

It has even put some tennis fans, who were thinking of attending the tournament this year, off: “Wow – that will make it easier decision for me on going there. I’m sure concession prices are outrageous and criminal.”

“Was a major bummer. I was just there, I had stadium 1 tickets and they wouldn’t let me into the upper level of Stadium 2.”

“They actually experimented with this last year during the QF. They didn’t allow Stadium 1 ticket holders or grounds pass holders into Stadium 2. The result was Stadium 2 more than half empty and it was reminiscent of the Iga [Swiatek]/[Naomi] Osaka match at RG [Roland Garros] 2024 when the [Court Phillippe-]Chatrier was half empty. Sad!”

Other tennis fans went on to claim that Indian Wells will likely end up regretting this decision.

“Awful, it’s like organizers enjoy the pain of shooting themselves in the foot. At the end of the tournament, they’ll boast about record numbers but these images of empty stadiums will live in infamy. Full stadiums should be the objective.”

“They will regret that decision. Those empty seats will add up, the people running the tournament will find out the impact will be negative.”

Should there be a fifth Grand Slam?

If so, which tournament would it be?

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Which players are on the show courts on day two of Indian Wells in 2026?

The second half of first round matches will take place on Thursday, March 5, featuring the likes of Venus Williams, Grigor Dimitrov and Taylor Townsend.

Williams and Dimitrov are both scheduled to play on Stadium 1, meaning that fans will need specific tickets to watch their matches, while Townsend is on Stadium 3, which is accessible for fans with a ground pass.

Stadium 2 has been the big talking point after day one, meaning that grounds pass holders will miss out on seeing the likes of former Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady and former world number six Hubert Hurkacz.

This is the last day without seeded players competing in the singles draw, with second round matches commencing from Friday, March 6.

Jannik Sinner, Frances Tiafoe, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Alexandra Eala will all start their Indian Wells campaigns on this day.