A Trip To The Desert.

My better half, Norman, flew in from Hamburg, and what waited for us was seven days of pure tennis in California's golden light. Day one started at the Vermont Canyon Tennis Courts in Griffith Park. Coffee to go at Maru right after. Then we drove out to the Racket Doktor in Atwater, because a racquet always needs something before it needs nothing. On the way we swung by Grand Slam to say hello, one of the coolest pop-up stores in LA right now.

From there it was straight toward the desert. Desert Open in Morongo Valley, a night in Indian Wells, an evening at Desert Smash. Back to LA for 24 hours of sightseeing and more tennis, and then straight back out for the first round of the fifth Grand Slam, Indian Wells itself.

Before Norman had to jet back to Europe, we didn't just meet some great new people and play a lot of tennis. We got a genuinely unique stretch of time in the desert, and we dropped our new shirt right in the middle of it.