Match Point

Many of the world’s best tennis players gather annually in the Coachella Valley at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden near Palm Springs. The state-of-the-art facility opened in 2000, showcasing the second largest tennis stadium in the world and a full-service tennis club. By late 2009, Larry Ellison- the billionaire CEO of Oracle Corporation- became the new owner of the professional tennis tournament and the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. And that’s when the star studded premier tennis tournament, BNP Paribas Open, hit the map…hard. In the last three years, world class athletes such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djookovic have won the men’s titles while Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki walked away with the women’s.

On February 28, three new restaurants made their debut at the brand new Stadium 2, an 8,000 seat stadium that was built in less than a year as part of a $70 million expansion. Ellison brings an outpost of his Malibu celeb-sushi-haven Nobu, as well as Chop House– a steak restaurant- and Piero’s Pizza Vino which are all located on the concourse level, overlooking the court and grounds that are surrounded by majestic desert mountains. As of now, the restaurants are only accessible during the Open but it could change in the future. With the addition of these three restaurants, there will be a total of 10 new food outlets inside Stadium 2, bringing a total of 20 venues on the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, including Garden Club, seven stands in the food court, and food carts near Stadium 3. The best hidden gem is Charter Club, a 54-seat high-end exclusive private club with the same membership returning every season. As well as tennis, the venue has hosted concerts by artists such as The Eagles, The Who and Tom Petty. World class althetes, black cod with miso, beautiful desert scenery and the finest tennis action around is all for the taking…and then there’s that music festival on its heels. Tennis anyone? BNP Paribas Open March 3-16  www.iwtg.net