My Indian Wells Experience

On March 6 2023, I had my first Indian Wells experience. That morning I woke up at 6am and drove from Scottsdale, AZ to The Indian Wells Tennis Garden, a journey of about 4 hours. I had been to the Miami Masters before but had been told that Indian Wells is the cream of the crop. Needless to say it was an excitement filled drive passing through the deserts of AZ and into California.

I arrived 30 mins before qualifying started, parking was free, and queued for a $10 ticket at the box office. The ticket gave you access to courts 2-9 and all the practice courts. Since it was early days for the tournament and the main draw was not underway yet, the top men’s and women’s players were scattered all over the grounds. 

I stood 3 feet away from an intense Jack Draper and Jiri Lehechka practice, saw the oily Gasquet one handed backhand, and slam champions Dominic Thiem, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and many more stars. 

But the take away for me is that this tournament aimed for perfection. Owned by Oracle Founder Larry Ellison, the grounds were in immaculate condition. Flower gardens, tournament shop, hospitality areas and food options all top notch. The level of attentiveness from the staff was also impressive. The clearing, cleaning, and constant picking up of trash speaks highly to their initiative and character. 

There was live jazz in the garden and also a showing of Break-Point Epsiode 3 (The Episode featuring Fritz win last year in Indian Wells) on the main scoreboard outside Stadium Court 1.

They thought of everything possible for the fan experience and this was just qualifying! I wish I was available for the whole tournament, because I’d never want to leave Tennis Paradise.