The back-to-back ATP and WTA 1000s tournaments in Indian Wells, California, and Miami, Florida, are known as the 'Sunshine Swing', named for the good weather and stunning grounds. These tournaments are the start of the hard-court swing in the United States, and for the last three years, I've been part of the social media team for Indian Wells.
About 10 days following Indian Wells, I headed to Houston for the US Men's Clay Court Championship. So I'm coining this my 'Spring Swing!'
Indian Wells
The beauty of this tournament is that it's my home tournament—a 2-hour drive from San Diego. I went from attending Finals Sunday as a spectator to being part of the team.
The best part of working at Indian Wells is our team. I’ve never worked with a more creative, passionate group of people who live and breathe tennis and are committed to producing top-tier content.
The backdrop of Indian Wells makes our job easy, and the occasional celebrity sighting ensures that our content will go viral. Thanks, Tom Holland and Zendaya, for those 149 million views last year! This year, Timothee Chalamet, Kylie, and Kendall Jenner also dominated on Reels.
Our videographers and photographers have their process down to a science, so our social media team can run with it almost immediately.
Houston
With the historic River Oaks Country Club as the setting, this tournament feels more like Easter Sunday than a clay court event. The crowd is dressed to impress, and socializing often takes center stage over the tennis. As an ATP 250, the field is smaller, but that means players are more hands-on during media day, giving us room to get creative.
A few standout moments from this year, Frances Tiafoe stepped into the media center for his press conference just as Houston had 23 seconds left in their game against Duke. One of the local reporters said, “Hey Frances, can we finish this game first?” So we gathered around an iPad, watched Houston beat Duke, and Frances finished his press during a timeout.
Another favorite was the traditional pool jump. Each year, after the trophy ceremony, the singles and doubles champions make their way to the clubhouse pool for a celebratory dive. This year, I captured the walk from the court to the pool, which our video team stitched together with GoPro shots, an underwater angle, and a few handheld clips. A full production moment.
Spring is the start of my tennis swing, and then my summer swing this year will include the Mubadala Citi DC Open and Cincinnati Open.
Do you want to learn more about social media production at a live event? We'd love to chat.