Welcome to Hard Court!
Welcome to Hard Court, a weekly tennis briefing that goes beyond the baseline. Every week, I recap the latest tennis news for fans of the game who want more than just a rundown of the latest stats. That means tournament highs and lows (the surprises, delights, crashouts, and comedy that this sport always delivers) but also the off-court details that often get overlooked, such as kit and sponsor changes, the rise of tennis influencers, and the sport’s impact on both mental and physical health.
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Hard Court is completely free to read right now, but if you have the means, you can also support my work and receive additional content by paying for a subscription. I’d be so grateful!
But what about clay and grass?
Don’t worry, they’ll be covered, too. I landed on the name Hard Court because, from my POV, tennis is the hardest sport—demanding not just enormous physical prowess but a level of intellectual stamina (high-Q, as I like to call it) that other sports just don’t. It’s one versus one, there’s no team to fall back on when you’re in play. What’s harder than that?
And who am I?
I’m Jessica Schiffer, a fashion and beauty business journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Vogue Business, The Business of Fashion, Time, and more. But these days it’s tennis that really has my heart.
Tennis was in the air for me growing up, and I wrote about finally falling in love with it on my personal Substack here after chronic pain derailed my best-laid plans and left me with a lot of idle time. It’s no exaggeration to say that the sport saves me daily, a much-needed distraction that thrills and delights (when it’s not breaking my heart).
