i-Dub Eye-Candy

As I walked into the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Friday, March 13th, the first thing I noticed was that some of the smaller match courts that were by the South entrance last year were now being used as practice courts. And the first person I noticed was (Russian player) Teimuraz Gabashvili practicing shirtless in the hot desert sun. Next to his court, two other ATP players were practicing shirtless, (Frenchmen) Julien Benneteau and Paul-Henri Mathieu!

What a beautiful way to start my weekend tennis adventure; shirtless tennis pro eye-candy greeting me at the entrance!

Unfortunately, I was too gun-shy to start snapping pics. But, not to worry, I soon warmed up my trigger-finger and start scoring pics of pros practicing (sans shirts). Aside from the obvious beauty of the desert landscape, Indian Wells is such an amazing tournament for the access you have to the pros. Please TO (sic) enjoy the following pics (as always, click on any pic to enlarge):

David Ferrer (Spain)






Tommy Haas (Germany)

And the PIECE DE RESISTANCE: Marat Safin (Russia)
(Please also see The Legendary Marat post)

And, at the risk of being cliche, I have to throw in some scenic pics: