The Indian Wells Open is one of the most popular tournaments in the calendar, and it's often called also the fifth Slam. As a result, organizers try to create as much entertainment for the fans as possible, and the part of that is the Eisenhower Cup.
The first-ever Eisenhower Cup was held back in 2019, when it was part of the "Rafa & Friends" event, attempting to raise money for charity from ticket sales. The tournament is played in a popular Tie Break Tens format, which is a very quick match in a tie-break to ten.
This first Tie Break Tens event was held in 2015 in London, and since then, it was held in Vienna in 2016, in Madrid in 2017, in Melbourne and New York in 2018, and in Dubai in 2021. The other three tournaments were held in Indian Wells, and they became now well-known Eisenhower Cup.
The first Eisenhower Cup had a $150,000 winner-take-all prize fund, and the likes of Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, and Dominic Thiem competed at the inaugural tournament, but it was Milos Raonic who won the first Eisenhower Cup in Stadium 2 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
The tournament was then not organized during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it returned again in 2022 for the women's singles tournament, once again with a $150,000 prize pool for the eight players competing.
In 2023, the event was once again played in Stadium two at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and after men's and women's singles in 2019 and 2022, the tournament was played in a mixed doubles format for the first time ever.
Many interesting pairings joined the tournament for a record $200,000 prize cheque, but it was Aryna Sabalenka and home player Taylor Fritz who bested all of the competition, including the women's world no. 1 Iga Swiatek and her fellow Pole, Hubert Hurkacz.
