At long last, I'm putting together a wrap up of my third trip to the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. It's been almost a month since my visit, and I have lots of great advice if you're planning a trip to Indian Wells.
This was the first time I flew into Palm Springs airport. I loved it! It's a super short flight from Phoenix, literally less than an hour! The airport is small and has a beautiful outdoor space with flowing palm trees and cute cafes. Although it's nice to have your own car, flying is a great option.
WHERE WE STAYED
This is BY FAR my favorite place to stay, especially for the tournament. It's very close to the tennis garden and has a shuttle to take you back and forth. This is such an important feature, because the parking and ride share situation can get ugly. They're very strict about parking, trust me, I've been reprimanded a few times and it ruins the fun experience. This hotel was buzzing with players, fans, and tennis fun. We saw the Bryan brothers at breakfast! Pack your racquets and get in some playing of your own at the hotel tennis facilities. Make sure to contact the hotel prior to your stay to reserve court time.
WHO WE SAW
My husband joined me on the first day at the tournament, and we had our eyes on some great Americans. We saw an incredible match between Rafa Nadal and Sebastian Korda. Rafa was down 2-5 in the third set and came back to win in true Rafa fashion! I also bumped into Nikoloz Basilashvili and his coach while waiting in the corridor to enter the stadium.
We caught some of Shelby Rogers match against Jelena Ostapenko. It's great to see how much love fans have for Shelby! As always, we had a great time walking around the grounds, taking photos, visiting vendors and soaking in tennis paradise.
My girlfriend Heidi flew in the next evening as my husband flew home to work. She got in just in time for us to catch the sold out doubles match between the Special K's- Nick Kygrios/Thanasi Kokkinakis and John Isner/Jack Sock. Talk about big hitting! These guys were so fun to watch and the atmosphere was very exciting!
The next day we went full-on theme park and spent the entire day at the tournament! We did some shopping around and then settled in to watch Mertens vs. Saville which was followed by some great doubles between Kenin/Riske vs. Muhammad/Shibahara.
We bumped into Catherine Whitaker from The Tennis Podcast, which was such a treat! She's lovely and so pleasant. After that we decided to treat ourselves to some delicious sushi at Nobu where we watched Riley Opelka and Denis Shapovalov from the window seats. As evening settled in, we watched Sinner vs. Bonzi, then hopped on the shuttle back to the Hyatt.
SHOPPING & FOOD
We spent an afternoon at the luxury shops and art galleries on El Paseo. It has everything you need for some quality retail therapy. Ralph Lauren, Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Bottega Veneta are some of the great shops. From there we walked over to Pete Carlsons Golf and Tennis which has everything you need as far as tennis goes. We wrapped up our afternoon at Gastro Grind Burgers which was incredible! They make some of the best onion rings I've ever had!
The BNP Paribas Open remains one of my favorite tournaments. I hope you find yourself there someday. It truly is a tennis paradise!