The Hard Court Index: Serena’s spotlight and the WTA’s creator reset
Nike sparked a familiar debate with Serena's return. The WTA, meanwhile, refined its creator strategy at Queen's.
It’s been a particularly busy stretch on the tennis business front, with megawatt returns, campaign drops, and new partnership announcements. For this week’s Hard Court Index—where I unpack where the sport is succeeding culturally and where it’s falling short—I’m focusing on the ladies of London (not to be confused with the Bravo show, one of the few that has yet to rot my brain).
Serena Williams finally made her long-rumored return to competition at Queen’s, prompting Nike to roll out a marketing push that reignited debate about whether the brand is doing enough for the rest of its tennis roster. Elsewhere at the tournament, the WTA ran the second edition of its Creator Club program after its Charleston Open debut drew criticism from some corners of the tennis community, myself included. In today’s issue, I explain why Nike’s splash for Serena was a success—but not necessarily evidence that the company is neglecting the rest of its roster—and share new details from conversations with WTA staff about the lessons learned from Charleston, encouraging metrics from the program, and how the organization plans to expand the initiative in 2027.
As always, each topic gets a Court Index rating—Low, Medium, or High—based on how effectively it moves the needle for tennis culture and business.
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