The BNP Paribas Open has a new playing surface this year, and after a few days of practice the reviews are in. But as always, the tournament’s top players can’t agree on if the new courts are faster or slower, and whether this change is a good or bad one.
Indian Wells has long been known for featuring slow hard courts with a gritty surface, while the conditions in California’s Low Desert also causes tennis balls to bounce high. This creates a famously tricky combination for the top players, and presents a unique challenge as the first leg of the Sunshine Swing.
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Back in January, organizers announced that the event had a new partner and would be switching from a court surface by Plexiclave to Laykold. The company also provides the playing surfaces for the Miami Open, Cincinnati Open, National Bank Open (Toronto and Montreal) and the US Open, which in theory should make conditions more consistent and slightly faster.
Here’s what the top seeds had to say about the change—with reactions ranging from Aryna Sabalenka’s delight to Iga Swiatek’s indifference, to Carlos Alcaraz’s utter confusion.
ARYNA SABALENKA: I love them. They’re a little bit faster, which is good for me, right? No, but it feels good, feels good so far. I’ll tell you later after my first match. I hope I’ll still like it! (smiling)
ELENA RYBAKINA: Well, I feel that it’s not much faster, but I will say maybe the bounce a little bit lower. The past few days were very windy and a lot of sun came, so it’s also a bit different, the bounce. But I think the court is still nice.
CARLOS ALCARAZ: The court is faster, right? I don’t know. Honestly, it’s a change that I didn’t understand when I saw it. [For] 25 years the tournament [used] the same court, and then right now has changed. I don’t know the reason why [they] did it.
I don’t know. I have to practice on it. I consider myself a player who adapt very well his game to the surfaces and all the conditions that you’re playing on.
I think I play great tennis anyway, even though the courts are a bit faster. But all I can say is I didn’t understand when I saw it.
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: …I will be honest with you, it’s okay. I like Indian Wells, I even like the courts now, but they seem to be almost slower than before, very slow. I don’t know what other players think, but I just had two days, jet lagged…
But, yeah, I played two days, and they seemed very, very slow. So let’s see how it plays during the tournament. And I didn’t see the difference.
IGA SWIATEK: Honestly, I don’t feel much difference. We come here after a year anyway, after a year of playing on different surfaces. Everybody says it’s a bit different, but I don’t know. It’s actually in the back of our heads because everybody is talking about it.
But honestly, I don’t really mind. We need to get used to the conditions anyway every week, so we’re kind of used to it. I try not to overthink it and just go out and play.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: There is a new surface? …Feels the same to me, to be honest. Practiced here for four days, I didn’t notice it. Didn’t know anything about it.
Judge for yourself as live coverage of the BNP Paribas Open begins on Wednesday, March 5—exclusively on Tennis Channel.
