INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — A year after a self-inflicted storm swept up this desert oasis, the dust has settled at the BNP Paribas Open.
On the morning of last year’s finals, the tournament director, Raymond Moore, remarked on the debt of gratitude that he believed female players owed male players, whose “coattails,” he said, they were riding.
“They are very, very lucky,” Moore said. “If I was a lady player, I’d go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport. They really have.”
Caroline Wozniacki, who was eliminated from this year’s tournament on Thursday, said she felt that Moore’s remarks were no longer an issue. “Everyone loves coming back here, so I really think that last year’s comments are kind of forgotten now, and we just move on,” she said.
Tommy Haas, a German-American player who competes sporadically on tour when not restricted by injuries, has filled the breach left by Moore’s resignation, becoming the tournament’s new director in June. Moore submitted his resignation to the event’s billionaire owner, Larry Ellison, 36 hours after his statements.
Those remarks drew the outrage of Serena Williams, the runner-up last year, and her reaction was quickly echoed by others around women’s tennis. When the WTA and ATP tours shifted to Key Biscayne, Fla., conversation lingered on Moore and the topic of equal prize money, but only for a few days.
“I think it was a really stressful situation, or just a situation that was talked about a lot, and then sort of just disappeared,” said Andrea Petkovic, often one of the WTA’s more outspoken players.
In May, the tournament spokesman, Matt Van Tuinen, clarified to The Desert Sun that Moore had resigned from only two of his positions, and had remained chief executive of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the venue that hosts the tournament. Van Tuinen and the chief operating officer, Steve Birdwell, both said last week that Moore had since stepped down from that role and that his lone remaining title was “consultant to Mr. Ellison.”
Neither Moore nor Ellison was made available for comment by the tournament.
The unorthodox choice of an active player, Haas, was praised by the WTA’s chief executive, Steve Simon, who was the Indian Wells tournament director before Moore.
“He’ll learn, and he’ll do fine,” Simon said. “He’s a great guy.”
Wozniacki said, “I think they did the right thing by hiring Tommy Haas to be the tournament director.”
Haas plans to play in the Miami Open this week, and on Friday, after Nick Kyrgios withdrew a few hours before his quarterfinal against Roger Federer, Haas stepped in and played an exhibition against Vasek Pospisil on the main court.
Haas, 38, said his office at the tournament was the first of any kind he had ever had.
“Coming to somewhere you can call your office, I really like it,” he said. “And you can leave your tennis stuff here, because you have courts around the corner, and one of the best facilities in the world to actually go out and hit some balls every once in a while. I’m really liking it.”
Haas had planned to play in the tournament this year until ATP officials informed him during the Australian Open that rules prohibit directors from competing in their own events.
Haas became friendly with Ellison during his playing career, staying at Ellison’s Porcupine Creek estate near the tournament, where Nadal has also stayed. Haas, who lives with his family in Los Angeles, said he had first inquired about the director position when Simon vacated it in 2015.
“I’m so excited to be part of a team as well, because being a tennis player you’re always in charge of your own destiny,” Haas said.
Haas said he had gained a greater appreciation for the complexities of running a tennis tournament.
“In my early 20s, I wish I would have known a little bit more,” he said. “You take it for granted. ‘I’m landing, pick me up! Take me to the hotel! Why can’t I stay at this hotel? Give me another extra room!’ Things are now starting to make more sense.”
Petkovic said that she had heard positive feedback from WTA officials about Haas, but that she would have preferred a different direction after Moore’s unceremonious exit.
“If it was me, I would have put in a woman as tournament director,” she said.
Haas did not dwell on Moore’s exit.
“All I can say is it was unfortunate,” he said. “I think we were all in shock a little bit, but that’s in the past. We’re going to move forwards.
“I think for me,” he continued, “the position was really all about moving forward, talking positively about the game of tennis, looking at all the upgrades we had. It truly is my responsibility: the fans, the players and the sponsors. I want to connect them more together.”
Venus Williams, a leader for the equal treatment of women’s players throughout her career, spoke glowingly of the tournament and how it had handled the transition.
“The women love playing here,” she said. “I was happy that the tournament did stand for equality and low tolerance of inequality. I think sometimes people make mistakes.”
Williams, who boycotted the tournament from 2002 to 2015 after an abusive crowd jeered her family following her withdrawal from a semifinal match, said she was not holding on to Moore’s remarks.
“If I wasn’t willing to move on, I wouldn’t be back in Indian Wells,” she said. “It’s no good to hang on to things.”