Tennis Tournaments in La Quinta

If you haven't seen polo before, you may spend a day at the polo fields watching a back and forth match between two rivals. Polo may not be your sport, but watching a live game once is something everyone should do, plus the matches are free for everyone; you just have to pay for parking. Check out this article from a La Quinta Chiropractor!

Largest Tennis Tournament

In March, one of the world's largest tennis tournaments comes to Indian Wells, which is next door to La Quinta, but this tournament started at the La Quinta Resort. Here is a little history about the tennis tournament not far from La Quinta. Former owner Charlie Pasarell convinced the ATP board to keep the tournament in the Coachella Valley. It was relocated to the La Quinta Hotel where it thrived for several years until it outgrew the property. That’s when partners Charlie Pasarell and Raymond Moore developed the Grand Champions Hotel and tennis facility (now known as the Hyatt Regency) and moved the tournament to Indian Wells.

Indian Wells Tennis Garden

Over the years, the tournament began to outgrow the Grand Champions (Hyatt) grounds as well. Then in the year 2000, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden was completed and became the new home for the tournament. By this time, the women’s and men’s tournaments were held together simultaneously rather than being held at separate times like they had been in the past.

Things weren’t all sunshine and lollipops for this tournament. Like any business, they had ups and downs. In 2006 for example, they lost a major sponsor. This was certainly a setback, but with the help of the tennis community, investors, and the City of Indian Wells, they were able to hold it together. They kept things afloat until they acquired BNP Paribas as a sponsor and picked up billionaire Larry Ellison. I’m sure with Mr. Ellison involved, this tournament will continue to grow until it becomes a grand slam, because that man doesn’t seem to know how to do anything other than win.

Ellison has increased the prize money to more than $10 million from the $250,000 it started with in the 1980’s. He has built a massive shade structure, restaurants, shops, and another stadium—all of which has turned this into one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world. In fact, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden is the second largest permanent tennis stadium in the world!

I can’t say that I’m an avid tennis fan, but I highly recommend attending the tournament and walking around on the grounds. Not only can you see some amazing athletes playing tennis, but it’s amazing to see a venue like the IW Tennis Garden in our own backyard. Even if the only thing you like about the tennis tournament is all the “people watching”, there is always plenty of that to do on the grounds as well.