Photo ABCs

Martina Hingis

An extreme close-up of Martina Hingis serving at Indian Wells.

Stan Wawrinka

Swiss tennis player Stan Wawrinka practices at the 2015 BNP Paribas Open.

Garbiñe Muguruza

Garbiñe Muguruza, and her shadow, serve the ball in an early round doubles match at the 2015 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

Martina Hingis

One of the highlights of watching tennis at Indian Wells this year was watching Marina Hingis play. Hingis, a former #1 singles player, now plays doubles only. She and Sania Mirza won the tournament's doubles title. Here she is hitting a backhand on the practice court.

Roger Federer

Roger Federer returns a backhand during an early round match of this year's BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

Why They Switch Tennis Balls

In professional tennis, the players are issued a new set of tennis balls after the first seven games, and every nine games thereafter. (The players warm up with the first set of balls, so they are removed after seven games.)

Here is Maria Sharapova striking a backhand during a match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Take a closer look. You can see the tennis ball is crushed! The strings are deformed past the racket frame, and thus the flattened ball is visible both behind and in front of the racket frame. It in no way resembles the fuzzy sphere prior to impact!

Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer

Today Novak Djokovic will play Roger Federer for the championship of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. These pictures were taken last weekend. I wish I could be there today!

Novak Djokovic:

Roger Federer:

Stan Wawrinka

Swiss star Stan Wawrinka serves during a loss to Robin Haase, at the 2015 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Svetlana Kuznetsova strikes a forehand during her loss to Sloane Stephens in the 2015 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

Daniela Hantuchova

Daniela Hantuchova smiles during doubles play at the 2015 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.