By Scoop Malinowski
You would think this year’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells might be a challenging year in terms of attendance with the absence of superstars Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Well, think again.
Michael Onello reports on site: “My friend gave me tickets for Saturday and Sunday, the two best days. It’s so freaking crowded, the worst I’ve seen, coming for eight years.”
Worst for spectators and tennis enthusiasts like Onello – but good for the bottom lines.
Onello, a nearby resident in the Southern California desert community, quickly adapted to the high volume of tennis fans frenzying to see their favorite tennis stars up close and personal. And after failing to get into see the Wawrinka match he finally got to enjoy seeing his favorite player Lorenzo Musetti vs Adrian Mannarino.
As if the tennis gods rewarded his patience, Onello even played a small part of the match. When Mannarino lost the dampner for his Babolat racquet, after slamming his racquet for the second time in the match, Onello picked up the lost equipment outside the fence and returned it to the French lefty who gratefully responded, “thank you.” Strangely, Onello said the match seemed to turn to Mannarino’s favor after the seemingly inconsequential moment of Mannarino reinstalling his dampner. “From that moment on he turned the match around. So weird. I should get credit for helping. Fans next to and around me said that was cool and nice of me (to return the dampner).”
34 year old Mannarino, ranked 68, ended up defeating 21 year old 21 ranked Musetti 64 64 and will next play another Italian Jannik Sinner in the third round. Mannarino is 0-2 career vs the 21 year old ranked 13.
Despite the threat of pickleball and the ATP’s uncertainty following the post Djokovic, Federer, Nadal golden era, the future of tennis looks very optimistic at 2023 Indian Wells.
My Biofile interview with Adrian Mannarino
Adrian Mannarino · Babolat · BNP Paribas Open · Indian Wells · Lorenzo Musetti · Novak Djokovic · Roger Federer
