Air Agassi

On a crisp late-October afternoon, a crew of 40 New Yorkers descended upon Old Greenwich Tennis Academy, a family-run tennis club quietly sitting on one of the best party hacks of all time: rent the whole place, bring your friends, and call it a “tennis party.”

Between the brand activations and choreographed energy, it felt like modern China itself: futuristic and polished; still striving to assert its place on the world stage.

Padel has emerged as a more-approachable alternative to tennis, drawing in a vast customer base eager for a sport that eschews the traditional formality often associated with tennis clubs. This shift speaks to a broader opportunity in presenting a warm front door that’s wide open for newcomers; Tennis could stand to take note.

In which a never-cruiser cruises, crushes balls, converts.