★ BNP Paribas Open

01Why it matters

Indian Wells is where the tour's spring reset happens, four weeks after the Australian Open and immediately before Miami, and the combined draw makes it the year's first full gathering of both tours in one place. In our reading it is the best-run tournament in professional tennis and the least socially consequential of the big ones, and both facts come from the same source, an owner spending on the event itself rather than on the week around it.

02The week around it

The Coachella Valley in early March is at the peak of its winter season, which means the tournament arrives into a place already full: the golf courses are at their busiest, Palm Springs is between Modernism Week in February and the music festivals in April, and the resort corridor from Palm Desert to La Quinta is running at capacity.

03When to arrive

The first Wednesday to Friday is the strongest stretch: both draws are still wide, sixteen courts are running, and a grounds ticket buys a full day of top-hundred tennis.

04Where to stay

The resort corridor along Highway 111 through Indian Wells, Palm Desert and La Quinta is the natural base, with the nearest hotels a few minutes from the gates and shuttle services during the tournament.

05Access and hospitality

The organizer sells grounds passes for the early rounds, which admit the holder to the outside courts and the practice areas, and separate day and night session tickets for Stadium 1, with Stadium 2 included in some ticket types and sold separately in others.

06Where the social activity happens

On site, the public gathering points are the plaza between the two stadiums, the food and wine concessions along the main walkway, and the practice courts, all of which are open to grounds-pass holders.

07Getting there

08Practicalities

09History

The tournament dates to 1976 and spent its early years moving around the Southwest, at Tucson, Rancho Mirage and La Quinta, before settling in Indian Wells in 1987 under its founders, the former players Charlie Pasarell and Raymond Moore.

10Who is there

Southern Californian weekend visitors, the Coachella Valley's winter residents, the American tennis industry in full, sponsor and corporate guests entertained on site and at the valley's golf clubs, and a modest international contingent that mostly belongs to the tour itself.