Racquet Issue No. 16

With the call to prayer echoing in the evening, you can even pick up a slight scent of aromatic oud in the air.

The soundtrack at a modern club has changed from a single note to a full symphony. You still hear the familiar ping of the strings on a tennis ball, but now it's mixed with the rhythmic thwack of pickleball and the bouncy thud of padel on the glass walls. This didn't happen because someone influential decided it should; it happened organically, driven by a new breed of athlete who refuses to be fenced in by tradition.

Back in September, Woolmark announced that Venus Williams was making her return to the US Open in a “groundbreaking Merino wool performance kit designed by LUAR.” Recently, Naomi Osaka won the Australian Open in a collaboration with couturier Robert Wun and Nike. What made that possible? The short answer is a strategic mix of design and technological advancements, but that connective tissue is textile innovation.

Our intrepid correspondent spends a weekend in Texas Hill Country with tennis' most controversial coach—and budding empire builder, with 18 global locations (and counting) of his namesake academy ready to take over the world. They talk life, changing the rules on coaching and (of course) Serena Williams.

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.

Photographer Hritika Chaturvedi was on the ground in Melbourne capturing the biggest moments from the Australian Open and she shares her experience trying to capture the world's greatest amid shadow, light, foibles and fanfare.