Tennis court conditions: Why players and weather mean as much as speed and bounce

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — It’s an annual ritual. Players descend on the California desert and almost universally declare it an ideal location for a major tennis tournament. The sun, the dry air, the luxe accommodations, the jagged hills and mountains that loom just beyond the Indian Wells Tennis Garden outside Palm Springs. Then they take to the purple and green hard courts with the big bounces that usually only happen on red clay. Another collective shout goes up, and it’s not so adoring. “Hey, wa