Indian Wells Tennis Garden

Conditional statement of the day: If you think mariachi is corny music best heard (but not listened to) over a big cheesy plate of tacos, then . . . you ought to take a flying leap. At least that's how promoter Rodri Rodriguez sees it, and intends for the rest of the world to see it, eventually. To Rodriguez, mariachi is as regal as a diamond tiara, sophisticated as classical European etudes and worthy of the same reverence.

Stadium Court 1 Starting at 11 a.m. (Seedings in parentheses) Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Pablo Andujar. Not Before 1:30 p.m. Victoria Azarenka (1) vs. Agnieszka Radwanska; Rafael Nadal (2) vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov (21); Roger Federer (3) or Milos Raonic (27) vs. Tomaz Bellucci. Not Before 7 p.m. Angelique Kerber (18) vs. Li Na (8). Not Before 8:30 p.m. Denis Istomin vs Juan Martin Del Potro (9).

Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi, Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport have committed to the Pacific Life Open to be played March 8-21 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Others men's top 10 players entered in the ATP Masters Series event include Roger Federer, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya. Joining Capriati and Davenport in the women's field will be Belgians Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, the top two players in the world.

The Three Musketeers of tennis are really bursting at the seams this year. It is their time. The sun is baking the Palm Springs desert most days now, and Charlie Pasarell, Ray Moore and Steve Simon are like 5-year-olds on Christmas morning. Their BNP Paribas Open starts Wednesday. The tickets are flying over the counter. The weather forecast is good, so far. Plus, almost every player you have ever heard of and wanted to see play, as well as dozens you haven't and don't, will be there, squeaking and grunting and hitting shots regular people can't imagine.

Rafael Nadal was a courtside witness to some testiness between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi during an exhibition match played to raise money for Haiti earthquake victims Friday night. And the friendly Spaniard, who is the defending champion at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, chose to plead poor English-language skills Saturday rather than give up the two former American rivals. While neither Agassi nor Sampras responded through their representatives about how seriously Sampras might have taken Agassi's on-court suggestion that Sampras had once been a less-than-generous tipper, Nadal said Saturday, "I didn't understand nothing."

SPECTATOR SPORTS: FRIDAY 10 * PRO BASKETBALL: Charlotte at Clippers, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m. * PRO TENNIS: Indian Wells Tennis Masters Series, Indian Wells Tennis Garden, 10 a.m. * PRO HOCKEY: Kansas City at Ice Dogs, Long Beach Arena, 7 p.m. * COLLEGE BASEBALL: San Francisco at Loyola Marymount, 2 p.m.; Bradley at UCLA, Jackie Robinson Stadium, 5 p.m.; Chico State at UC Riverside, 7 p.m.; Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at Long Beach State, Blair Field, 7 p.m.

The showcase stadium was sold out Friday night. Andre Agassi hit a forehand that almost hit Pete Sampras in the back, and everyone in the stadium in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden laughed. Agassi was playing tennis in his sweatpants, but his groundstrokes were working. It wasn't exactly competitive tennis, though. This was for charity, an exhibition called "Hit for Haiti," put on by new tournament owner Larry Ellison and his company Oracle. It wouldn't have worked so well though if Agassi, Sampras, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal hadn't agreed to play.

The men's draw for the $2.95-million Pacific Life Open tennis tournament at Indian Wells will be expanded from 64 to 96 players beginning in 2004 in accordance with a new 50-year agreement between tournament and ATP tour officials, it will be formally announced today. With the agreement, the top-tier tournament played the first two weeks of March will become one of only two multiple-week, combined men's and women's events in professional tennis, other than the four Grand Slam tournaments.

The ceremonial opening was held last week, and now it's time for the real thing at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. It's something like putting a toe in the water, testing and evaluating the new $75-million facility with two days of qualifying, today and Thursday, before first-round play begins in the women's event of the Indian Wells Tennis Masters Series on Friday. Admission for qualifying is free. Men's qualifying is scheduled Friday and Saturday, with play beginning Monday.

As her tennis deteriorated, as her ability to put the tennis ball inside the lines of the tennis court failed, Svetlana Kuznetsova let her emotions also fly out of bounds. She mumbled to herself and threw a racket, and neither expression of her frustration helped the top-seeded woman in the BNP Paribas Open draw. Kuznetsova was upset by Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. Suarez Navarro, who upset Venus Williams at the 2009 Australian Open, didn't do anything spectacular other than stay safely behind the baseline and keep putting balls over the net. "She is in, out, in, out," Suarez said.

Rafael Nadal made his way into the round of 16 at the BNP Paribas Open on Monday with an impressive victory over a qualifier. He looked sharp, healthy and ready as always to make runs at the major titles. However, you don't always see the best of Nadal on the tennis court. Sometimes, that happens in the cafeteria line. The organizers of this long-running event did an interesting thing when they built their 16,100-seat stadium, called it the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and opened it for play in 2000.

The single point was filled with momentum shifts. Ivan Ljubicic attempted three passing shots, Andy Roddick was up at the net trying to volley, backhand and forehand. The noisy Croatian fans were chanting "left, right, left, right," and when Ljubicic finally evaded Roddick's racket with a backhand that left the American flat-footed, the cheers were from a single corner but quite loud. That point came on Roddick's serve during a second-set tiebreaker that gave the 31-year-old Ljubicic a quick lead and a final push to the finish.

It all caught up to Novak Djokovic on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open, all the extraordinary effort he had put in to leading his country, Serbia, over the United States in the Davis Cup 12 days ago, flying across nine time zones to get to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and trying to play to his seeding, as the second-ranked player at the BNP Paribas Open and the second-best player in the world. On Wednesday, his efforts unraveled as his 30-year-old opponent, Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, uncorked too many big serves for the heavy-legged Djokovic.

As her tennis deteriorated, as her ability to put the tennis ball inside the lines of the tennis court failed, Svetlana Kuznetsova let her emotions also fly out of bounds. She mumbled to herself and threw a racket, and neither expression of her frustration helped the top-seeded woman in the BNP Paribas Open draw. Kuznetsova was upset by Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. Suarez Navarro, who upset Venus Williams at the 2009 Australian Open, didn't do anything spectacular other than stay safely behind the baseline and keep putting balls over the net. "She is in, out, in, out," Suarez said.

Rafael Nadal was a courtside witness to some testiness between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi during an exhibition match played to raise money for Haiti earthquake victims Friday night. And the friendly Spaniard, who is the defending champion at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, chose to plead poor English-language skills Saturday rather than give up the two former American rivals. While neither Agassi nor Sampras responded through their representatives about how seriously Sampras might have taken Agassi's on-court suggestion that Sampras had once been a less-than-generous tipper, Nadal said Saturday, "I didn't understand nothing."

As Justine Henin's unthreatening serve caused Gisela Dulko few problems, as Henin's usually glorious backhand was unable to regularly penetrate Dulko's steady game, as the crowd tried speaking Henin's language by yelling "allez" (French for "go"), Henin simply became more average. The 27-year-old Belgian could find no part of her all-around game that was better than what was offered by Dulko, and so it was the 25-year-old Argentine who walked away with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 second-round win Friday at the BNP Paribas Open.

In the last year, Mario Ancic has been both a commerce lawyer in Zagreb, Croatia, and a tennis player. He prefers the outdoor courts to the indoor ones. Ancic, 25, who was a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2004, missed most of last year after being diagnosed with mononucleosis that had first been diagnosed as a bad flu in 2008. There was a time, Ancic said, when he would spit up blood while hitting a tennis ball because he didn't know what was wrong. On Thursday, Ancic beat American qualifier Bobby Reynolds, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and he was ecstatic to have had the opportunity to play.

The star of the 2000 Indian Wells Tennis Masters Series has a high price tag and will hog the spotlight. No, it's not a player. The diva is a stadium. This year, the focus is on concrete and luxury suites. Sure, there will be concerns about the usual stuff--running forehand winners and running Davis Cup debates--but the spotlight of the tennis world the first few weeks of March will be on the new $75-million tennis facility on a 50-acre complex in Indian Wells.

The showcase stadium was sold out Friday night. Andre Agassi hit a forehand that almost hit Pete Sampras in the back, and everyone in the stadium in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden laughed. Agassi was playing tennis in his sweatpants, but his groundstrokes were working. It wasn't exactly competitive tennis, though. This was for charity, an exhibition called "Hit for Haiti," put on by new tournament owner Larry Ellison and his company Oracle. It wouldn't have worked so well though if Agassi, Sampras, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal hadn't agreed to play.

In the last year, Mario Ancic has been both a commerce lawyer in Zagreb, Croatia, and a tennis player. He prefers the outdoor courts to the indoor ones. Ancic, 25, who was a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2004, missed most of last year after being diagnosed with mononucleosis that had first been diagnosed as a bad flu in 2008. There was a time, Ancic said, when he would spit up blood while hitting a tennis ball because he didn't know what was wrong. On Thursday, Ancic beat American qualifier Bobby Reynolds, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and he was ecstatic to have had the opportunity to play.