2016 Indy Wells

[nuraman00]

Novak warmed up on court 1 40 mins before women's finals. PA just before 11am: "That's not Novak, that's a stunt double. Real Novak is warming out back."

Agree with bsktballer89 about Raonic's style of play.

 

[Liberal Icon]

Congratulations, Vika and welcome back!

 

[cezero]

good for vika

looking forward to seeing if raonic can serve well enough to be competitive with nole

 

[cezero]

I'm really becoming a fan of Raonic new style of play

His movement is the only real difference. He gets to more balls. Glad to see that he worked so hard on it. Other than that, he's a big serve, a big forehand, and a competent volleyer.

I think he could get his return a little better.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Serby ripped him a new one.

 

[Old Lion]

Serby ripped him a new one.

Yikes! big time.

 

[bksballer89]

Navratilova disappointed by Novak comments

Djokovic questions equal pay in tennis

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Yikes! big time.

Tore it open and walked it dry...

 

[nuraman00]

Recap of Palm Springs and Indian Wells.

Pics:





While leaving the airport terminal, there was a warm breeze. I had never felt a warm breeze before, it was nice.



03/19/2016: Indian Canyons: Palm Canyons:



Originally my plan was to go to both Palm Canyons and Murray Canyons, within Indian Canyons.

Palm Canyons had a guided tour at 10am and 1pm. I got there at 9:15.

When it was 10am, I was the only one there who wanted to go with a tour guide. So we started.

This reminded me of how in New Orleans, my friend and I were the only ones each time during the Beauregard-Keys house tour, and the Cemetery Tour.

* Palm Trees will bend toward sunlight. You'll see pics of trees bent almost horizontally, because those trees would bend toward where there was sun.

* Cutting the nests of the palm trees can reveal rats, because it's a nice place for them.

* The shade provided by the large rock could make a big difference.

* They had fresh lavender flowers, which smelled nice.

A few people saw me with the tour guide, and joined in midway.

After over an hour, the tour guide stopped, and said the rest would have have to be on my own. After a few minutes of walking, I realized why. The rest of the trails were heavily exposed to the sun, and had little shade. While that early part had been well shaded.

I did one of the easier trails, which was still about another 1.25 hours. Due to the heat/sun, it was difficult. (I had several liters of water in my backpack). I was very tired from the heat, during the last 1/2 hour of it.

It was about 12:35pm when I finished. There is no way I could have gone to Murray Canyon afterward.

Aerial Tramway:

This is a tramway ride that goes up to some mountains. There's some snow visible, but it's not cold at all, it's nice weather.

The tramway ride was nice. It spins 360 degrees as it's moving, so you can see every angle around during the ride.

Alicante Spanish Restaurant:

Went there after the tramway. I chose here because they had some happy hour specials, and also a bar area where I could watch the Warriors-Spurs game.

The food was well made, but there wasn't anything I had to have again during my next visit. And I didn't love the drinks I got either. Other than the bread, I couldn't give anything better than an 8/10. I was just hoping this place would be so good that that I would love it, with a 10/10.


03/20/2016: Indian Wells

The Womens Finals was pretty good; the Mens was not.

45 minutes before the Womens Finals started, Djokovic was on the stadium court, warming up with someone wearing a Berkeley shirt.

Just before 11 AM, the PA said "That's not Djokovic on the court, that's his stunt double." Lol.

This was a pretty competitive match. The first game of the match started with Serena being down 0-40. A fan shouted "What time is it? Break time!"

The individual games were competitive, so that's why it was decent.

During the 2nd set, Serena got a 2nd violation for racquet abuse, in between games. So, she started off the next game down 15-0. Don't think I'd seen a point violation timed in between games like that, before.

A fan near me was also talking about the incident from 2001, at Indian Wells. He said Serena lied about not seeing her father that day before the match, because there's video footage of them talking by the locker room, before they'd go out and announce Venus' retirement.

I think that's getting too much into semantics. I think when a reporter asked Serena if she talked to her father before the match, it was implied that the question was about whether Venus would play. Serena could have been chatting about something else with her father, at that moment. I don't think that match was pre-determined to have Venus retire, like it was rumored to be.


During the Mens Finals, there were constant "Nole" chants, and the crowd had both Serbian and Canadian flags (for Raonic).

A fan next to me brought out a Canadian flag. The same fan was cheering for Azarenka earlier.

Raonic struggled winning points on both serve and hold. It just wasn't his day.

In between the Womens and Mens' Final, the sun was getting to me. I went to the concourse, and saw there were free water refill hydration stations. That's a great idea. Every outdoor venue should have this. This was the best part of the stadium.

By the 3rd hour, even the ball kids were losing focus due to the sun. In between one point, the umpire had to say "balls please" to a ball kid whose attention had wavered due to the heat.

Next time, I need to bring a pocket fan.

Cork Tree Restaurant:

Like most places I had researched, this place was expensive. But I liked everything I had here, would want to come back.

 

[nuraman00]

Did anyone read the above, especially the part about Indian Wells?

 

[nuraman00]

@Old Lion , @cezero , @Hs0022 , @Smart , @bksballer89 , did you read my recap in post # 49? At least the Indian Wells portion, if not also the Palm Springs portion?

Thanks.

 

[Old Lion]

@Old Lion , @cezero , @Hs0022 , @Smart , @bksballer89 , did you read my recap in post # 49? At least the Indian Wells portion, if not also the Palm Springs portion?

Thanks.

Just reread it. Was I supposed to be looking for something in particular?

I am hoping to get down there in September so the top part was interesting.

 

[nuraman00]

Just reread it. Was I supposed to be looking for something in particular?

I am hoping to get down there in September so the top part was interesting.

Not really, just wondering if anyone had any comments. Either on the stadium experience itself, or watching a championship match. It's the first Masters 1000 event I've been to.

And my first time in Palm Springs.

I went to the SAP open, to see Sampras do some exhibition matches, when they had the SAP Open until 2013. I think I went in 2012 (Sampras vs. Verdasco) and 2013 (Sampras vs. Monfils).

But the SAP Open wouldn't get big as big names as a Masters 1000, so was looking forward to it. Andy Roddick, Murray, would usually play, but I never went to see them.

Another reason I wanted to go to this one is because they play both the Mens and Ladies finals on the same day, so it an be a fulfilling day. I think in 2015, both matches went 3 sets, so great for fans who went that day.

I can't do this every year, so this was just a once every several years, at best, type of trip for me.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Old Lion]

Another reason I wanted to go to this one is because they play both the Mens and Ladies finals on the same day, so it an be a fulfilling day. I think in 2015, both matches went 3 sets, so great for fans who went that day.

Wish more tournies would do that

 

[nuraman00]

Wish more tournies would do that

Yeah, lol. After watching the 2015 Indy Wells Finals on TV with both matches going the distance, I knew I had to try and go to one soon.