BNP Paribas: Ahead of the Slams?

Shot Spot will make Indian Wells the world’s best officiated event.

According to BNP Paribas Open spokesman Matt Van Tuinen, “Indian Wells is the most accurately officiated tournament in the sport.”

Now why would Matt make a claim like that? Have the officiating crews been handpicked and trained by new tournament owner Larry Ellison? Just kidding.

The real reason is that for the first time anywhere on the tour every match on every court – including all the outer courts–will have the shot spot so any player in any round can challenge any call – not just the players on the large stadiums.

That’s a world first. You don’t see it at Wimbledon or the Open or in Paris or Australia. But maybe that is about to change. Can the Slams let Indian Wells top them in the long run?

We reported last year about Oracle founder, billionaire, and bon vivant Larry Ellison’s acquisition of the event and though the tournament people are reluctant to talk about him or his influence, it’s a pretty safe bet he is the driving force here – remember this is the guy that single handedly changed the America’s Cup through advanced technology.

Larry likes…