We Need to Talk About Tennis
It's stylish, social and an excellent workout. If that's not enough, let's dig into why everyone's suddenly obsessed with this formerly exclusive sport.
When you think of tennis, do you immediately envision lush green grass courts and crisp tennis whites? Rolex. Strawberries and champagne.
You’ve been indoctrinated by Wimbledon. Especially this time of year. It’s grass-court season in England with the only one of the four Grand Slams set on grass.
Hosted at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club since 1877, Wimbledon is the epitome of posh. There’s no other sporting event with a Royal Box. With a 50+ year dress-code. Where the Queen (now King) handed out the trophy at the end and made Catherine, Princess of Wales, the royal patron.
Tennis is as British as British can be. Don’t believe us? Three of The World’s Most Exclusive Tennis Clubs are in England.
So yes, tennis has always been an OG “country club” sport. Right next to golf.
But golf is a sport where deals get made. It requires a lot of resources (both in time and money) to play at the right places with the right people, thus making the barrier to entry high. On purpose.
Which is why tennis also gets lumped into the elitist category. And why you might think that you have to be Sporty & Rich (aka thin and wealthy) to don a skirt and swing a racquet. That you have to belong to a country club in order to play.
But our girl Serena blew that whole notion out of the water and wrote some new rules.
That’s why we say tennis is the antithesis of golf.
There is a simplicity to it that no one talks about.
Anyone can pick it up. And a lot of people have!
Even though it seems like everyone is playing pickleball, tennis participation in the United States rose to 25.7 million players in 2024. That means 1 in 12 people played tennis last year!
I am one of them. And so is Racquet Racket. We both immediately became obsessed with tennis when we started playing and decided to team up to dive into what makes tennis - a sport steeped in rich tradition - so relevant and popular in today’s modern culture.
The Tennis Obsession
It’s hard to pinpoint one singular reason for the recent tennis resurgence but we can say with certainty that it has made its way into mainstream pop culture and steadily becoming a Dinner Party topic. Tennis has been slow burning since 2018 & 2019 when Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton attended Wimbledon together to watch Serena Williams play. This was the height of the Meghan Markle pandemonium and we will never forget how she iconically wore a blue striped top with white pants like it was no big deal.
The tennis hype continued with the retirement season of Serena Williams in 2022 at the US Open. Her third round match against Ajla Tomljanovich was the “most-watched tennis telecast on record in ESPN’s 43-year history” as noted by ESPN. Since then, Google Trends for the term ‘tennis’ has spiked every year around the time of the US Open in late August.
And when you layer the term ‘tennis’ which is in blue, with ‘US Open’ in red, the data trend shows a growing audience who likely got introduced to tennis through watching Serena play her last season and continually showing increased interest every year.
The following year in 2023, Netflix released a deep look into the new talent and faces of tennis in its series Break Point. The hope was that it would see similar viewership after a very successful F1: Drive to Survive series. Break Point introduced us to many of the top 20 players in tennis right now including: Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, (tennis bad boy) Nick Kyrigios, Iga Swiatek, Ons Jabeur, and Aryna Sabalenka.
The show was cancelled after 2 seasons but those of us who watched it, it fueled our love for tennis. In my opinion, Break Point created more quality fans of the sport unlike F1: Drive to Survive created fans of the show. (Note: This is a personal opinion and not validated by any data on the growth measurements of F1.)
In April 2024, Zendaya’s tennis forward movie Challengers used tennis as the backdrop to a steamy love triangle storyline. We got to see Zendaya serve looks as Tashi in the movie. We all obsessed over how Law Roach (her famed stylist) brought in playful tennis details as we followed the ‘fits on her press tour as if it was our job.
As if Zendaya didn’t bring tennis to the forefront of the cool era of pop culture, we’ll also remind you that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce attended the 2024 US Open in their cute (a little cringy) outfits and having the BEST time.
In all these moments, tennis is highlighted with style, athleticism, and carries the cache of ‘iykyk’ energy. It’s not exactly a niche to be a tennis fan but it’s becoming very chic and cool to be one. Just look at the latest luxury partnerships that have come to fruition in the last 6 months. Coco Gauff and her recent partnership with Miu Miu, Jannik Sinner and Gucci, Jack Draper and Burberry and Lorenzo Musetti and Bottega Veneta.
It’s really hard to avoid seeing tennis marketing in general in your social media feeds. Seems like every brand from Old Navy to Lululemon has a tennis collection now. It has hit mainstream consumption which makes tennis not only visible but accessible. Tennis-core is fueling the interest but the sport’s long tradition of leisure and style is driving the obsession as it continues to set itself apart from every other sport.
Name another sport where the spectators wear immaculate suits. Go ahead. We’ll wait.
Cultivate Your Own Tennis Obsession
Cute outfits. Fun exercise. A touch of competitiveness. What’s not to love?
Youngna Park says it best:
“For me, tennis, which I learned in a purely hobby-istic, gotta-go-to-some-rec-camp fashion as a kid, has been my all-consuming, mental-and-physical-health-improving, joy-inducing portal of my early forties.”
It’s easier to start than most people think - no tennis whites required!
All you really need is a racket, some balls and a court to play on. There are now even a bunch of content creators teaching basic skills online to give you lay of the court, some rules, lingo and more before you even head out.
For reals, this is all you need to get started:
A racket
A can of balls
A free-ish public court
A lesson (or few) to learn the basic mechanics, strokes, footwork and rules
A desire to play
Someone to play with
A winning formula for a good time.
Net-net, tennis is just plain fun. Every time you go out, you learn something new. About yourself. About the game. About the people you’re playing with. No matter your skill level or sense of competitiveness, tennis is a social sport first. You can chit chat throughout. Between points, games, or sets. Making it an ideal way to get a little exercise and social time.
Speaking of… “Tennis Socials” are booming. We know because Racquet Racket started one!
Maybe that’s a stretch because I’ve only hosted 1 tennis event but I am hoping to make it a monthly thing. I couldn’t find a tennis community so I thought maybe if I book the court and put it out there, people will join! So I did the scary thing and put it out there on TikTok. I recruited a few friends in case the turnout was terrible and I needed someone to eat the donuts and mimosas with me in between tennis sets. In reality, around 25 came! We took over two full courts with one being beginner and another intermediate. What surprised me was how genuinely happy and inclusive everyone was to bring in people into the tennis community. We had people who had never held a racquet before to someone who has coached for over a decade. After this event, I started to see other posts on TikTok pop for upcoming tennis meet up events!
Tennis is the sport to pick up as an adult. (And apparently it’s the healthiest sport that can add up to 10 years to your life!)
Keep it casual and social or get intense about it. Level up from hobbyist to recreationalist to full on sports-person.
You can care about racquet types, strings, grips and more. Deep dive on topspin and drop shots.
You can become a USTA member. And join teams, leagues and tournaments. Get all consumed with rankings. Even as a beginner!
You can spiral down a Reddit thread. Immerse yourself in Brandon Taylor’s Tennis Diaries. Obsess over all the tennis-core outfits and follow the lives of the tennis WAGs on social media.
Or you can watch some of the later rounds of Wimbledon this week. Check out some of the superstars of the tour. And be inspired to take it to a court near you. Just to hit some balls over the net. For fun.
We’ve done our best trying to articulate just what it is that makes tennis so compelling. So just take our word for it.
Once you pop the top of that first can of balls, you won’t want to stop. And won’t stop talking about it.
Gear up. Get out there. Welcome to the club!
The Challengers movie had an epic soundtrack. So we’re curious…
If you were stepping out onto center court tomorrow, what’s your walk-out song?
🎾 Add it to the shared playlist! (it’s collaborative!) Or listen along to get hyped.
If you enjoyed reading this, let us know! Hit the ❤️ to show that you liked it, drop a comment or forward to a tennis-loving friend.
And to really fire up your tennis obsession, turn to Racquet Racket.
Photo Credits: Photo By Joe Diver | Wimbledon | Sporty & Rich | Serena Williams by Glyn Kirk for GETTY Images | Vanity Fair | Vogue | Tom Kelley Archive
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