If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I love tennis. If you ask any of my friends, they would probably tell you that at one point or another I have accidentally held them hostage during a conversation where I talk about how much I love tennis, or how the speed of the hard courts impact different players, or which male tennis players have openly stated that they don’t believe in equal pay for women’s players.* You know, we all have our hobbies, and tennis is one of mine.
So, because I really, really like tennis, every year I drive 2.5 hours outside of Los Angeles, where I reside, to the desert of Indian Wells, CA, to attend the BNP Paribas Open.
This year, 2026, marks my sixth consecutive year attending the BNP Paribas Open. As a 1000-tour level event for both the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) and the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals), it is one of the largest professional tennis tournaments in the world. It is also often dubbed