Wendy Laird

Last week, Racquet spoke with everyone’s favorite doubles partner, Jack Sock—he of the ferocious forehand and the Grand Slam doubles titles—about his recent shift to—shudder— pickle ball. A new documentary, Chasing Courts: The Jack Sock Story, follows Sock’s unlikely trajectory. 

A new tennis project in the city's Osu neighborhood blends cutting-edge architecture with ancient building methods to create a harmonious space for tennis.

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

We talked with Grand Slam winner and former world no. 4 Roscoe Tanner—at one time everyone’s favorite bad boy—about his time on tour with Borg and Ashe, getting out on the Champions Tour [Jim Courier: please make it happen], and tiny shorts. His new book, Second Serve, reconciles past mistakes (and there were quite a few) with what he’s learned since. 

Tennis by boat is now a thing; hop on.

Given our two-week Tennis Garden residency, we can confidently report that the 2025 tournament went off without a hitch—unless you count swirling winds that sometimes stopped play, but Tennis Paradise can hardly be held accountable for that. 

The first few days here at the tournament were for the die-hards. The ones who watch streaming matches all year, who know the players at every level—way below the top 100—and want to watch them try to play their way into the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open. By the weekend, all that changed.

We at Racquet take our curatorial role to bring the best stories, ideas and experiences your way with extreme dedication. It's in this spirit, then, that we offer scenes and how-tos for making your visit to The Happy Slam, a, well, happy one. We sent our features editor Wendy Laird to Melbourne, where she met up with Australian photographer Chris Caporaso to capture scenes in and around the grounds. If this doesn't get you excited to visit the fourth Slam during Aussie Summer, we don't know what will.

The best part about having a sport is that it can be pastime and workout and outlet. A reason to travel and a welcome distraction at home.