Features

This year's pre-tournament festivities also fell on Oscars weekend meant that the worlds of sports and entertainment overlapped even more than they usually do—Coco Gauff turned up at the Academy Awards and Aryna Sabalenka hit the Vanity Fair Oscar Party. But the LA landscape, just weeks after devastating fires ripped through many parts of the city, was one in need of a comeback.

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.

It’s difficult to emphasize enough how much Los Angeles had positively awakened to tennis in the last few years. Now you see people playing in their front yards, on uneven hilly driveways in Eagle Rock. Using their clanging garage doors as backboards. Annoying the neighbors; not caring. This is how tennis in LA will persist.

A week after claiming his first title at the Argentina Open, hometown hero João Fonseca returns to Brazil to massive crowds.

The new book Ace, Marvel, Spy by author Jenni Walsh tells the story of the '30s tennis star, Wonder Woman comic editor and WWII spy Alice Marble.

For our first ever digital cover story, we sat down with the world No. 4 and Boss ambassador in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles on the eve of his 2025 season. In a wide-ranging interview that touched on everything from gaming to fashion to his magnificent run to the US Open finals last year, Theresa Lin writes Taylor Fritz was never interested in being a performer, but a champion.

Alyssa Low is a multidisciplinary artist who—with a background in collegiate soccer and a well-established practice in murals and public art installations—has seen her work blanketing the Chicago skyline. She has teamed up with the Chicago Bulls, Chicago Blackhawks and the Chicago Fire FC to create collectibles that highlight her geometric designs and riotous colorways. Naturally, we thought it was high time she got into tennis so we asked her to create our first Lunar New Year collection. Usher in the Year of the Snake with our Racquet LNY drop: a tote, tee and poster series highlighting Alyssa’s striking and playful designs.

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.

In August, I watched Dominic Thiem play the last Grand Slam match of his career, courtside in Arthur Ashe stadium. Thiem’s family and team were in his box, including former coach Nicolás Massú, their faces solemn in the midday sun. American Ben Shelton, whose star power and biceps have only increased in size since his breakout season last year, was Thiem’s opponent. Thiem played with occasional moments of beauty—the ghost of his US Open-winning self dancing in the shadows of a one-handed winner—but Shelton devoured him. It was heartbreaking, and perversely compelling.