Melissa Kenny

We contemplate an ATP tour without Stan Wawrinka, who lifted trophies and bared it all in a memorable Body Issue spread: In a room full of Pat Rafters, our See You in Court columnist Mel Kenny would still stan Stan.

Melissa and Daniel—the authors of Hard Hitting and Sportsverse, two of the best newsletters around—are friends, neighbors, hitting partners, and for one magical afternoon at our new Clubhouse location, muses of style.

Now that tennis represents a broader purview, it churns out the same cheap tricks as the overstimulated ecosystem it dwells in: shock jockery, cash grabs, frenzied efforts for “engagement” that materialize as gauche emblems of brodernity. So I turn your attention, instead, to the real battle of the sexes: that women’s tennis is amply more exciting than men’s.

In the spirit of transgressions, trolls, tirades, and another godforsaken years-end list, our resident advice columnist brings you the top five rage bait moments of 2025.

One day, not so long after implementing my methods, your hitting partner will realize God gives his most minor inconveniences to his weakest soldiers.

The glare is ruining my game.

Your basic options are: Fib, protect your schedule, start a business, or dominate them so thoroughly they'll never ask again.

Because winning is the point of everything, we’ve all been taught, in some way or another, how to do it—instructions we carry out with varying degrees of success.

Your bag is closer to a clown car than tennis gear. A vehicle for getting your trickery from A to B, before you park her on the sidelines so the real work can happen. The bag you bring to court exists on a scale of form and function for which you are the architect.