Walk with me through the US Open news cycle
A journey for tennis purists and capitalist monsters alike.
The US Open main draw hasn’t even begun, and I’m looking into cloning myself to keep up. The hoopla surrounding the Slam—from endless events to new partnership launches—makes fashion week (a hell I once had to subject myself to) seem almost breezy by comparison.
The brands are branding hard this week, from the obvious categories (racquet, sportswear, and tennis media brands) to well, everything else (food, hotels, and high fashion, to name a few). The US Open marketing and launch craze isn’t new, but it seems to be rolling in at a higher pitch this year. It’s day three, and I’ve already implemented a sanity nap into my daily schedule just to wade through it all.
I’m working on some cool stuff behind the scenes for you guys, but in the meantime, I thought I’d run through all the newness blasting through this week, on and off-court.
For the pretty purists
The on-court news you need to know
Jannik Sinner is, in fact, human. Despite Térence Atmane referring to him as an alien (compliment), Sinner showed us that sometimes he, too, feels like shit when he had to retire down 0-5 against Carlos Alcaraz in the Cincinnati final, citing illness. It was an all too fitting end for the worst tournament of the year. Now we’re left to wonder, will this illness affect his game at the US Open?
Speaking of Atmane, after his career-high run through Cincinnati, we were all keen to see what he could get up to at the US Open. He was slated to play qualifying on Tuesday but withdrew at the last minute due to a muscle tear in his foot. With so much momentum behind him, it’s a huge bummer he’ll have to miss the final Slam of the year.
Things look more concerning every time Stefanos Tsitsipas steps on court, and that was underscored by his first-round loss to Yunchoakete Bu at Winston Salem this week, a 250 he was essentially playing as a Hail Mary to get him back into form for USO. Bu is no slouch, but to see the former top ten player Tsitsipas fall so easily to him (6-3 6-2 in 88 minutes) was hard to watch. The guy exudes unhappiness on court, and with his grating father back in the coaching box and a niggling back injury he seems reluctant to truly rest, I’m not sure I see that changing soon.
In lighter news, the tennis gods heard our prayers for Coco Gauff. After racking up so many double faults these past few weeks that her matches became too painful to watch, Coco fired one of her coaches, Matt Daly, and brought in the biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan (who previously helped Aryna Sabalenka fix her serve) to work alongside her other coach JC Faurel. On the practice courts today at USO, MacMillan was seen stepping in a lot to give feedback on her serve motion. It’s a tall order to fix her serve entirely by next week, but I’m excited to see how this shakeup helps evolve her game in the long run.
The Mixed Doubles event kicked off yesterday to…mixed reviews. Personally, I found it silly to be watching actual doubles specialists play top singles players — it was mostly an embarrassment for the latter and an insult to the former. But the singles on singles matches, like Alcaraz and Raducanu vs. Draper and Pegula, were genuinely fun. So here’s an idea that I’m sure no one will listen to: let’s have two separate mixed doubles events next year, one for the OGs whose lives depend on this sport and another for the singles players looking to have some fun and make some extra cash. Win-win.
For the capitalist monsters
The brand news you need to know
Jack Draper did indeed kick Nike to the curb for Vuori, but you already knew that if you’ve been reading Hard Court. It marks the sportswear brand’s biggest tennis partnership to date. The designs are pretty simple, in the muted tones Vuori is known for, but the cut-off style tee that Draper wore to play doubles felt a lot more on brand for him than the schoolboy get-ups Nike was putting forth. And Jack made sure to beef up for added appeal. He’ll have a signature line and will be feteing the launch at Vuori’s Flatiron store tomorrow—it’s open to the public if you’re thirsty.
The art collective MSCHF collaborated with Racquet Magazine on a limited edition version of its famed ‘Global Supply Chain Telephone Bag,’ known for being a mash-up of iconic bags from Hermes, Celine, Dior, and Balenciaga. Fittingly, this version is made of neon yellow felt with red GSCT lettering across it like a tennis ball. If collector’s items are your thing, you can buy it on 8/26 for $650.
In a perfect union of my interests, the cool girl luxury brand Khaite designed a custom kit and visor for Venus Williams. Designed by Cate Holstein, Khaite is not a brand you associate with tennis or sports at all, but that makes the collaboration all the more compelling. Williams debuted the look on the mixed doubles court yesterday—a navy tennis dress featuring white lining, a square neckline, cap sleeves, and a thigh-length skort. The white visor had navy knots atop each temple. Now the question is, will we be seeing more of this dress (or other Khaite pieces) when Williams plays in the singles draw? Or will she change it up with new designers each time she steps on court? Either way, I’m intrigued.
The ATP Tour and the tennis-inspired indie brand Palmes unveiled a limited-edition capsule of tennis apparel and accessories today. The collection features t-shirts, polo tops, tennis shorts, caps, and a tote bag, combining Palmes’ unique approach to tennis fashion with the name recognition of the ATP brand. The collection (which feels pretty simplistic compared to Palmes’ usual style) will be for sale on Palmes.co, at Palmes’ Copenhagen flagship, and at a pop-up at Gem Home in NYC. This is one of many indicators (including some news I’ll be sharing soon) that the ATP is taking fashion’s marketing power very seriously.
In the clearest sign yet of so-called WAGs becoming an extension of tennis players’ brands, Paige Lorenze stars alongside her fiancé Tommy Paul in a new campaign for his sponsor New Balance. Some tennis fans love to hate on Lorenze, an influencer and fashion brand founder with 1 million followers on Instagram, but it’s hard to argue with the business case for this campaign: a new audience, wider reach, and an army of women and girls who will buy anything she touches.
It’s not quite Erewhon-level, but Coco Gauff, the so-called “Chief Smoothie Officer” of Naked Smoothies, is launching a signature smoothie with the brand called “Coco Gauff’s Protein Pineapple Smoothie.” Designed to fuel active lifestyles, it’s loaded with 20 grams of plant-based protein, real pineapple and orange juices, electrolytes from coconut water and essential vitamins B6 and B12. If you want to find out where it falls on the “Hailey Bieber to Jamba Juice at the mall circa 2001” smoothie matrix, you can try it at their pop-up called Coco’s Corner Store at 21 Spring Street starting tomorrow.
Thanks for reading! If you have tennis news or tips to share, email jessica@hard-court.com.
I don't know what's happened to Nike lately. From Andre through to Roger, they were the peak of tennis fashion, but now they're kinda frumpy and boring.