MORE TENNIS THAN YOU'LL EVER NEED

When a tennis player needs to do stairs, any stairs will do

INDIAN WELLS – To develop legs that can run all day – as Barbora Strycova did Friday in a first-round marathon victory in Indian Wells over fellow roadrunner Sara Errani, you have to do stairs.

With no empty sports stadium in the immediate vicinity to serve the purpose, Strycova and her coach found some in a rather unusual place.

That these were the stairs leading to the upper tier of the main stadium at the BNP Paribas Open was not a problem. Crowds were light Thursday and the duo (the coach had to do it, too – only fair) had no trouble getting their work in. Any fans going or returning to the upper level just went up the other half.

Here’s what it looked like.