By Jack Kirkwood

The Brits will tell you Wimbledon with its beautiful grass courts and rural setting not far from the heart of London is the world’s number one annual tournament and a major event by any high standard.

So too will the U S Tennis Center on Long Island not far from downtown New York City insist its annual tournament is the world’s number one and again a world-class event by that same high standard.

Then there’s Paris with its clay-court championships in the spring that certainly qualify for the same exclamations and it’s hard to dispute the good citizens of Paris.  Theirs is a solid argument

Tennis down under? Absolutely. The classic Australian city of Melbourne hard by Port Phillip Bay and way down under for sure greets every new year with its own great tournament in the southern hemisphere summertime not long after the Christmas holiday and isn’t that different?

So the four “majors” of tennis boast home cities with a total population of well over 20 million and big attendance figures each year to match in both good times and not-so-good times.  That seems to be expected while quite astounding as well.  Since tennis fans are a loyal and avid bunch numbering in the many hundreds of thousands if not millions the world over, its no wonder those four big ones shake up the sports pages every time.  

Then there’s number five. A tournament with its own astonishing numbers and beautiful stadium affectionately known as the Tennis Garden and its wonderful history spanning over 35 years. Must be in a big city in the busy and bustling American West but not so. 

The place is Indian Wells out in the California desert just east of Palm Springs. That stadium is the second largest free-standing tennis stadium in the world and the 2012 tournament upcoming March 5 - 18 is sure to set yet another record with over 350,000 spectators expected for the 12-day event. Giddy tennis fans from around the world will pack the stadium's center court and its many supporting courts every day in a desert setting like no other.

This is simply because it all takes place in such a beautiful setting complete with rugged mountain backdrop amid wall-to-wall park-like surroundings of golf courses and desert palms that make a visit here so unique. All of this must be in another of those big population centers to be so successful but such is not the case.

The City of Indian Wells and the tournament staff and management take great pride in their achievements in a vibrant population center of less than 5,000. Can you imagine?