Does tennis need more good faith critics?
Some thoughts on hitting a nerve and going viral. Plus, reading between the lines of the Spotify and Lululemon news.
Welp, a little piece I wrote earlier this week was featured in The Athletic and went viral on Twitter, so there are a lot of new people here—welcome! It’s been a fun 24 hours and I will try not to be paralyzed by fear that a lot of people whose work I respect and admire are now subscribers. You have confirmed for me that we have the best small-but-mighty subscriber list on Substack. (I mean where else can you find world-class journalists, tennis agents, ITF execs, and tennis media folks who hate each other mingling with top models, OG reality television stars, and fashion designers?)
I won’t do a full re-introduction but if you’re wondering if I just fell out of the sky to irritate the tennis powers that be, feel free to check out the About page as well as the articles linked at the end of the post for a little Best of Hard Court (so far—it’s somehow been only 4 months). You can also read some of my latest tennis work for Vogue Business and The Financial Times.
But what I really want to talk about is a sort of epiphany I had in the wake of my piece on tennis’s content struggles blowing up, which is the lack of good faith critics in tennis right now. I’m not talking about the old-school curmudgeons who are allergic to change, the people still measuring active players against the Big 3 and Serena, or the warring stan accounts on Elon Musk’s internet—we have plenty of those—but people who love this sport, as I do, and want it to do a better job at selling itself, taking care of its players, and so on.
I think my piece resonated with a large swath of people for two key reasons: it hit on something true that’s also gone pretty unspoken until now and it was not gratuitous (there’s nothing worse than unfounded hating, which has unfortunately become something of a personality trait these days). It seems to me that we could use a bit more of that in tennis right now.
In trying to think of who else is looking at the sport through a similar lens, I thought of Carole Bouchard, who wrote this great piece about how tennis scheduling is a masterclass in self-sabotage. I also think Andy Roddick does a great job of this on Served, even in spite of his clear allegiances to the sport and organizations that helped make him who he is. Is there anyone else you’d add to the list?
Off-Court
The weird Spotify x ATP rollout
As you’ve probably seen by now, the ATP announced a partnership with Spotify yesterday, and I was a bit baffled by how it was described in the mainstream press. The same article in The Athletic that referenced Hard Court (thanks guys!) seemed to gloss over the most interesting element of the collab (exclusive episodic video content) to focus on the underwhelming music element—Spotify will be curating ATP tournament playlists and walk-on track lists. Given how much tennis players already share their love of music on their own platforms—everyone knows Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton love Central Cee, and that sweet prince Casper Ruud is an unfortunate fan of The Weeknd—I’m not sure how this could possibly help grow the sport or connect fans more deeply to the players. But what does hold promise is the video content, which will kick off with a behind-the-scenes documentary of this year’s Nitto ATP Finals that will debut in December. Ever since Netflix dropped the fuzzy ball with Break Point, tennis fans have been frustrated by the untapped potential for great tennis docu-content. I’m really hoping that this new partnership will result in material good enough to fill that void.
But what’s perhaps more fascinating is that the WTA is announcing a similar Spotify partnership soon, too. According to two sources, the women’s tour was caught off guard by the ATP’s announcement and are rushing to get something out. The lack of communication between these two entities, who are said to be discussing a merger, never ceases to amaze me. My interactions with both organizations have evoked a competitive brother-sister relationship, rather than two parties working together to help the sport grow. It’s a head-scratcher, and one I hope to explore more in-depth soon.
Kitted
Reading the tea leaves of Lululemon’s partnership with the BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells)
The forecast for OG tennis apparel brands doesn’t look good right now. FILA, which has been the clothing sponsor of Indian Wells since 1998, has been replaced by the activewear brand Lululemon, which has been upping its tennis investment since 2022 when it debuted its first tennis apparel line and signed Leylah Fernandez. Last year, it signed Frances Tiafoe—a great get in terms of star power, even if his tennis results have been subpar of late. This is a smart move for both Lulu and the BNP Paribas Open—it feels young, fresh, and better aligns with how people actually dress today to play tennis today.
But there’s still something sad about a nostalgic brand like FILA getting pushed out (and I confess I’m one of the rare people who liked some of their old-school kits). Late last year, FILA downsized its US business after operating losses more than doubled since 2023. They closed most sales channels and plan to sell off all US inventory by the end of this year, but said they intend to reenter the market after some reshuffling. Taking all of this into account, it’s not exactly surprising that they either pulled out or got the boot when a better deal arose.
The Italian-founded brand currently sponsors players like Emma Navarro, Brandon Nakashima, and Reilly Opelka, but at least one of its top players will be moving to a new, very modern sponsor early next year. I’m very curious to see if more follow suit.
If brands take anything away from this from a tennis standpoint (beyond, you know, making smart financial decisions), it should be to freshen things up and do it often—whether you’re dressing the players or the ball boys (sorry, ball people just doesn’t roll off the tongue). If you’re sponsoring a tournament or a player, you should want to get the most bang for your buck, and ugly or repetitive kits just aren’t going to achieve that. Yonex kits, for example, desperately need a refresh, while Ralph Lauren’s ball boy outfits leave a lot to be desired—they certainly don’t have me or anyone I know running to the RL Shop at the US Open to recreate the look.
A Hard Court refresher
For those of you who are new here, I don’t just talk about the business of tennis, even if that is a favorite thread. I also love unpacking the matches, the big personalities, and the issues that athletes are struggling with on and off court. Here’s a round-up of some of my favorite pieces to date:
Thanks for reading! If you have tennis news or tips to share, email jessica@hard-court.com.
Small and might, we are! Only just found your ‘stack this week, but loving your content. Looking forward to having an indulgent mooch through old articles over the weekend! 😊