I love tennis. The look of the courts, the smell of a fresh can of tennis balls, the squeak of shoes on the court. I love the somewhat snooty fans of the sport, especially the ones who go to the tournaments. I love the stadiums that the big tournaments are played in, they are super fancy and have great restaurants. Its all very country club.
For years I attended the US Open Tennis Tournament in Flushing Meadows. Its big time and probably the biggest of all the major tournaments. Its hard to get to the east coast for some tennis so now I try an attend the biggest west coast event and was lucky to catch a a couple matches this week at the BNP Paribas Open In Indian Wells, CA.
The BNP Paribas Open is the largest two-week combined event outside of the four Grand Slams and the most-attended WTA Premier Mandatory and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournament in the world. The grounds are amazing with 100’s if not 1000’s of palm trees. Courts are pristine, like they were built yesterday and no matter where you look, the grounds are perfectly clean.
I paid $40 for a night pass, face value from a guy selling tickets in the parking lot. Nose bleed seats in the main stadium but I didn’t care as it was sold out. The one and only Rodger Federer VS fellow Swiss player Stan Wawrinka. Rodger took it in 2 sets but Stan gave a good show as he tried to hold on.
If you like tennis or just want to go have some fun, grab a cheap seat at a pro tournament one day. It’s a great way to spend a few hours out of the ordinary and into a small world of a sport that is played worldwide.
