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Martin Parr missed the point. While his tennis photography is iconic, photographing the Grand Slams misses the true heart of tennis culture. The Slams are for show; their prestige (and prize money) commands peak effort and passion from the players, and the fans are there to be entertained. Indian Wells is different.

This year's pre-tournament festivities also fell on Oscars weekend meant that the worlds of sports and entertainment overlapped even more than they usually do—Coco Gauff turned up at the Academy Awards and Aryna Sabalenka hit the Vanity Fair Oscar Party. But the LA landscape, just weeks after devastating fires ripped through many parts of the city, was one in need of a comeback.

The first few days here at the tournament were for the die-hards. The ones who watch streaming matches all year, who know the players at every level—way below the top 100—and want to watch them try to play their way into the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open. By the weekend, all that changed.

It’s difficult to emphasize enough how much Los Angeles had positively awakened to tennis in the last few years. Now you see people playing in their front yards, on uneven hilly driveways in Eagle Rock. Using their clanging garage doors as backboards. Annoying the neighbors; not caring. This is how tennis in LA will persist.

Rennae talks to the woman behind everyone's favorite Grand Slam success story about learning to love the process in tennis, her decades-long journey on the tour and how a little therapy and playing brave pays off. 

We give deserved standing ovations to the players who've gotten their inner games of tennis together—looking at you Mirra Andreeva, Andrey Rublev and of course, Madison Keys! Also a slightly inappropriate discussion of the hottest tennis match ever, a brief detour through South America, and most importantly, we'll see you in Indian Wells! 

A week after claiming his first title at the Argentina Open, hometown hero João Fonseca returns to Brazil to massive crowds.

The beginning of the year is, for the organized and the ambitious, the time to plan travel for the year ahead. We here at Racquet can juuust see the toes of our shoes on the sidewalk in front of us, but for those of you who can plan an entire year in advance—good for you!—we have some places to consider. You’ll of course be packing your racquet.

Are the new rules governing mixed doubles at the US Open akin to tiddleywinks? Did the WTA do right by all players by banning Vukov? Should the hosts of this podcast be Chancellor (and vice chancellor) of tennis? All this and more answered by your favorite duo of intrepid tennis conversationalists.