SPOTTED: Bill Gates Turns Up at the Indian Wells to Catch-Up on Carlos Alcaraz’s Tournament Opener

Published 03/08/2024, 11:15 PM EST

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The ongoing Indian Wells tournament saw an exclusive guest in the stadium. This guest is none other than a famous business tycoon and Microsoft’s founder Bill Gates. Now fans are not unaware of Gates’s love for the sport. This famous billionaire was spotted playing a game of tennis with the Swiss maestro, Roger Federer in 2017 in Seattle. This time Gates was spotted enjoying a game at the BNP Paribas Open recently.

Since his early days, Bill Gates has spoken about his admiration for the sport. When Microsoft’s founder played for Federer’s charity in 2017, Gates’s father was cheering for his son from the crowd. This explains the whole Gates family’s love for tennis. Now Bill Gates renewed his feelings for tennis by attending the prestigious Indian Wells tournament as a guest this year.

Recently, the official X (formerly Twitter) channel of Tennis TV shared a clip from Alcaraz and Matteo Arnaldi’s match from last Friday where fans spotted Bill Gates in the crowd. The clip also showed Gates smiling as he enjoyed the match between two ATP pros. Sharing the clip, Tennis TV tweeted- “A local fan in attendance@BillGates @bnpparibasopen.” 

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After seeing this clip, fans were thrilled to see the excitement surrounding the prestigious Indian Wells tournament. Now that Bill Gates attended it, it seems like the BNP Paribas Open 2024 is making a huge impression among the fans. Let’s read about the exciting match that Bill Gates attended that day.

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“It’s a little bit tricky” – Alcaraz talked about the odds he faced in the night session

Carlos Alcaraz made his debut victory at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open as he defeated Matteo Arnaldi. While the Spanish tennis star lost the opening set, he continued to win the upcoming nine games by pulling off a 6-7(5), 6-0, and 6-1 victory. After this victory, Alcarz will ply against Felix Auger-Aliassime tomorrow.

This Spanish tennis star commented-“I made a few mistakes in the third set that I didn’t want to make, It’s a little bit tricky playing the night session here. They are very different conditions, and I had to adapt to it. It surprised me, I feel great, moving normally without thinking about it.”

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Bill Gates’s presence at the Indian Wells tournament expressed the tournament’s popularity. Following Alcaraz’s epic win against Arnaldi, the tournament received its charm after Nadal impacted it with his withdrawal. Despite all, Carlos Alcaraz proved his worth among the tennis fraternity again.

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Written by:

Upasana Banerjee

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Upasana Banerjee is a Tennis Writer at EssentiallySports. Specializing in major trends within the tennis world, Upasana's keen eye captures newsworthy moments in the world of sports. Her adept information mining makes her a go-to source for insights into players' lives.
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Edited by:

Ananya Giri