A day of contrasting weather at the Tennis Garden, March 11

     We had a quiet day on March 10 - did errands like getting Mark some sunglasses and exercising his knee at the non-hot tub.
      But, today we had a splendid day of tennis! We had day tickets, but the matches went so long that it went into the night. In fact, even though we are die-hards, we actually left early, even though it meant that we did not see Simona Halep, seeded #5, someone we have never seen before.
     We started the day in the gorgeous new Stadium #2 where we got into the general admission seats, but were early enough to get good ones. (Section 215 for future reference.)
      When we went in, Andy Murray, Chris Fleming (doubles partners), John Isner and Milos Raonic were warming up for a later match.
       The first match, however, was 8th seed Petra Kvitova versus 19 year old Danka Kovinic of Montenegro. Everyone assumed it would be an easy match for Kvitova, but it became an over two and a half hour battle. The heat also increased. (We sweltered in the direct sun.) The stadium also got fuller as people wanted to get seats for the following doubles match. In the end, Kvitova pulled it out, but....by a hair. But, Kovinic definitely won the admiration of the crowd.

Petra Kivitova

Danka Kovinic

    Mark and I survived by making shade with a newspaper on our legs and by drinking a lot of water and eating oranges.
     The second amazing match was the doubles between Andy Murray and Chris Fleming, both Scots and John Isner and Milos Raonic. It was very entertaining and, unlike so many doubles matches, this went the distance with many leader changes and long rallies. Isner and Raonic won after about an hour and a half. (And, luckily for the spectators, the wind had picked up and made us more comfortable; I am sure the players had a different take on it, although it also reduced the heat for them, too.)

Milos Raonic serving

Andy Murray in action

      So, most of our day was spent on Stadium 2. Then, we made our way to our seats in Stadium 1. We had good seats in Section 153, Row T. We went there to see Venus Williams, who we have never seen, against a Japanese qualifier, Karumi Naru. But, when we got there, Vasek Pospisil of Canada was in a long match against American Jared Donaldson. (Pospisil won after almost 3 hours.)
     Venus finally got to the court around 5:30 and it was still the day ticket! And, the weather changed drastically - from the oven to the freezer! It was gusty, chilly and cloudy - maybe the mid 60s and - there we were in our shorts and light t-shirts. Venus has not appeared at Indian Wells since the late 90s and the crowd, including us, gave her a resounding welcome. She was so pleased.

Venus smiling at her loud and welcome reception

      Then, in the early part of the first set, the rain came down! In the desert where it never rains! And, it bucketed. The stands emptied and spectators huddled in the windy corridors. After about half an hour, the court was dried and we went back in. A lot of people had left, so we went down to the first row where we were only about 40 feet from Venus which was a privilege as she's nearing the end of her amazing career. But, the wind and chill got to us and we left at the end of the first set, which Venus unfortunately lost.

Kurumi Nara

Venus Williams

       But the weather defeated us. Amazingly, we could have stayed after Venus's match as Simona Halep, the 2nd seed, was up next and we have never seen her either. And, we really wanted to see her. But, it was too cold and getting too late, despite the fact it was still on our day ticket. As we left the tennis garden people were coming in with jackets, sweaters and hats for the cold.
      We had to move into our new place here - Desert Vacation Villas in Palm Springs. We got here around 8 and then had to turn around and get some food as we were really hungry having only eaten some fruit during the day of tennis.
       We found out that Venus lost the match in two sets. Halep, however, won, as did Serena in the night session. (Seeded #1)
       Desert Vacation Villas is a typical timeshare - quite nice, two bedrooms, full kitchen. We are happy to be settled and can, at last, empty the car which is a mess. (We have not emptied it since around February 2nd at Michael and Nancy's villa in Atlantic Beach.)