Fashion and pop culture are finally realizing what fans have always known: Tennis is the best sport in the world – at least the most beautiful.
As the heroine of the new, very tennis-heavy film “Challengers”, Zendaya not only wears tennis clothes, but in one scene she also wears a T-shirt with the inscription “I told ya”, which is currently being bought in large numbers. The legendarily casual John F. Kennedy Jr. was photographed in exactly this shirt in the 1990s, and what’s more, “I told you so” is the perfect smart-ass slogan for all situations in life. Particularly good to use in the current tennis comeback in fashion, sport and pop culture. Because initiates – told ya! – always knew what the rest of the world is only rediscovering: there is no better, or in any case no more beautiful, sport.
You don’t even have to start with topspin, slice and Roger Federer’s one-handed backhand (although that was, of course, gorgeous). Or mention the neatly dressed referees who constantly say “Love” from their strange perch, which in this case means zero, but inevitably sounds like big feelings. It’s enough to have had the bat in your hand once, even if only to use it to lift a small yellow felt ball up the outer instep of your shoe. For a tenth of a second you immediately have the feeling that you cut a really good figure on the pitch.
Of course, the classic tennis wardrobe also helps. Pleated skirts and mini dresses with polo collars may seem a bit anachronistic in women’s sports – they still look good, and overall, more fabric is used here than in athletics and beach volleyball. The men also look far better in their clothes than footballers and Formula 1 drivers. Individual jerseys, sweatbands instead of helmets: players like Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton don’t even have to take off their jewelry or tape it up. Sport is no longer as stuffy white as everyone always thinks. And anyone who has ever played on clay knows the dirty truth: Over time, a brown-red veil covers shoes, socks and grip tape and stubbornly gets stuck in every crack. A kind of terracotta-colored patina that, for those in the know, is inevitably part of the feeling of summer from the start of the season.
Yoga trumped tennis
Nevertheless, the sport was somewhat forgotten after the tennis-crazy eighties and nineties with Steffi Graf and Bum-Bum-Boris. There were exceptional players like Federer, Rafael Nadal and the Williams sisters, but in the public eye tennis suddenly seemed too old school, too dignified, too, yes, worn out.
Maybe it was the yoga hype, “middle-aged men in Lycra” on racing bikes or too many hoodies and sweatpants in fashion. Not even passionate player Anna Wintour was able to bring tennis back into vogue, even though she never missed an event with Roger Federer and never covered her perfectly trained upper arms. Heritage brands such as Lacoste, Fred Perry and Fila regularly release vintage collections. But on the street only tennis socks in flip flops and Adidas Stan Smiths prevailed. For everyone born after 1980: This is the name of a former American tennis professional, and these shoes were actually played with.
But now the TSVs in this country are reporting membership records again. Influencers like Caro Daur remember playing when they were young and immediately post videos of themselves hitting a felt ball. In the past two years, a number of fashion brands have celebrated the tennis style or even launched their own collection, from Céline to Miu Miu to Mango and Zara Kids. While younger players simply wore something during training, the trend now – both on and off the court – is towards tennis skirts, now nicely with trousers sewn underneath. Also: sturdy short men’s trousers, lots of white and lots of green.
If it gets hot: Céline sweatband
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In terms of fashion, the comeback may have something to do with the “Quiet Luxury” phenomenon. Away from bright colors to muted colors, more timeless and high-quality classics that rich people in the Hamptons have always worn but that Generation Z is only now discovering for themselves. Polo shirts, long knitted sweaters with a deep, contrasting V-neck. The Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner was recently featured in the US “Vogue”, completely decked out in Gucci, whose brand ambassador the South Tyrolean is now. Louis Vuitton is advertising with the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, Dior has the British Emma Raducanu under contract. The tennis court is more interesting for brands than it has been for a long time because spectators around the world are paying more attention again – and that’s not just because of the top-class players, but also because of the audience.
The prominent tennis comeback
There were so many celebrities at Wimbledon and the US Open recently that it was as if they had been brought in in minibuses. Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner, Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz, Charlize Theron, Ariana Grande, Leonardo DiCaprio – they have all rediscovered tennis as a highly entertaining spectacle and pop culture event. Besides, there is no better presentation area than bucket seats in a VIP box. The camera lenses are much closer than in a football stadium, the natural light is better than in any basketball hall, and instead of eating nachos, you will only be photographed with creamed strawberries. Previous highlight: Zendaya and Tom Holland in March at the ATP tournament in Indian Wells, when they sang along to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” in the stands.
Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig at the 2023 Wimbledon final
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However, as mentioned at the beginning, Zendaya currently has a tennis film to promote. “Challengers”, a love triangle starring Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, is the new film from successful director Luca Guadagnino. None other than the head designer of the luxury label Loewe, Jonathan Anderson, was responsible for the costumes. No sporting reference was left out on the global promotional tour: the actress wore a Louis Vuitton suit, an evening gown embroidered with rackets by Thom Browne, pumps with an impaled felt ball on the heel and various short tennis-style dresses. With this film at the latest, the number of new registrations and repentant returnees in the tennis clubs is likely to explode. Because you also want to dash across the court with such vigor and dynamism – or at least hang out on the club terrace with one of those big racket bags.
Zendaya in a themed Loewe gown at the Australian premiere of “Challengers” in Sydney
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The most glamorous tennis moment of the year comes from another film. In the surprise hit “Saltburn” Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan can be seen in a scene playing crazy “cocktail tennis”. The men wear tuxedos in the evening sun on the ash field, Elordi’s film sister appears in sequined leggings and high heels. The game is played, but in addition to the rackets, the champagne bottle and cigarette also have to be held in the hand somehow. The song “Time to Pretend” by MGMT is layered over it.
After this clip, all the descendants of large landowners probably wanted to immediately swap their beach volleyball court behind their house for a tennis court. If ash or lawn seems too high-maintenance for you – a hard court will certainly do the trick to start with.