Attending Basel Indoor/Paris Masters

[Roddick85]

Hi

Has anyone ever attended the Basel Indoor ATP 500 tournament or the Paris Masters 1000 BNP Paribas? I'm considering attending one of these tournaments this fall, after having attended the WTF last year, I really like indoor tournaments.

Would love to hear some feedback/tips about going to either tournaments.

Thanks

[gavna]

First both are already selling tickets......Basel for the end of the week I believe is already sold out - just to to the Basel site and you can see what's left. For Bercy the tickets are sold thru the same system as RG via the FFT site -

Big difference is their is nothing todo in Basel - in October it's cold grey and rainy - I mean the highlight is going to Mulhouse or visit the HQ of Syngenta or Ciba........For Bercy at least your in Paris and have of course one of the worlds greatest cities, again the weather is meh but at least you have Paris.
Basel is also brutally expensive - even more so than Paris or London, it's a business center with large corporate HQs that favor the business traveler thus Hotel and food pricing can be shocking even for Europe.

[Roddick85]

Thanks for the tips. I recall seeing some kind of net in front of the crowd last year at the Paris Master, does it obstruct your view all that much? On TV it looked kinda bad, but maybe that's just me.

[gavna]

That's common on the seats right behind the baseline - it really doesn't bother you - in fact the nets are used in just about every indoor event.

[West Coast Ace]

Originally Posted by Roddick85

Has anyone ever attended the Basel Indoor ATP 500 tournament...

My (very, very) wealthy friend went last yr and sat in the 2nd row. Got to go to a 'meet and greet' with King Roger.

@gavna speaks the truth - SUI makes London look like a bargain. I think my friend paid about the equiv of $25USD - for breakfast!

No way you'd consider Shanghai? I've gone for 7 straight yrs - it's a blast. And as a Masters 1000, a lot of good matches. PM me if you want any info.

[gavna]

Originally Posted by West Coast Ace

My (very, very) wealthy friend went last yr and sat in the 2nd row. Got to go to a 'meet and greet' with King Roger.

@gavna speaks the truth - SUI makes London look like a bargain. I think my friend paid about the equiv of $25USD - for breakfast!

$25 gets you the orange juice at any average large hotel in Basel.....
It is a great event and Roger all over the place, as mentioned for a few $$$$$ Roger does quite a few meet and greets and if your a Roger fanatic a great way to see him up close. But there is NOTHING to do there.....some decent eats but nothing special, if you love Raclette you won't be disappointed.

[Roddick85]

Originally Posted by West Coast Ace

My (very, very) wealthy friend went last yr and sat in the 2nd row. Got to go to a 'meet and greet' with King Roger.

@gavna speaks the truth - SUI makes London look like a bargain. I think my friend paid about the equiv of $25USD - for breakfast!

No way you'd consider Shanghai? I've gone for 7 straight yrs - it's a blast. And as a Masters 1000, a lot of good matches. PM me if you want any info.

Shanghai isn't something i'd consider for now, in a few years perhaps. I want to combine a sightseeing trip with tennis like I did last year when I visited England and attended the WTF, best of both worlds ! I'm a big RF fan, so I thought switzerland could of been a good option, spend a few days in Zurich/Geneva and attend 1 or 2 sessions at the Basel open afterwards, however based on the feedback I got and after looking into it more, Paris seems even more interesting, there's still good tickets available so I might end up there, not sure yet.

For those that attended both events, any of you know if there's any like Fan activity's like what they have in IW/Miami ? Like autograph sessions or public practices and such? Last year at the WTF, I saw Fed practice a few times, always a nice bonus.

[West Coast Ace]

Originally Posted by Roddick85

I want to combine a sightseeing trip with tennis like I did last year when I visited England and attended the WTF, best of both worlds !

3 days in Hong Kong, 3 days in Beijing, then 4 in Shanghai for tennis - good intro to China - and the weather in Oct is perfect. But you could train (or suffer Ryainair or EasyJet) around EU before or after Basel or Paris and see quite a bit too.