From Strawberry Pasta to Runway Kits: Tennis Fashion and Culture Year in Review

This week on Ground Pass, we’re doing something a little different. It’s a year-in-review episode, but not the typical match-by-match recap. This one is for the tennis fashion people, the culture obsessives, and anyone who has ever paused a highlight just to get a better look at the kit, the bag, the shoes, or the walk-on fit.

First, I’m joined by Kaya Courtside, who you’ve probably already seen on our feeds after she covered UTS Finals in London for us. It’s our first real step into expanding Ground Pass coverage on the ground in Europe, and I wanted to start by talking shop. What is it actually like covering a tennis event behind the scenes? The passes, the media room scramble, the “so-and-so is coming in two minutes” alerts, the pressure of interviewing players right after a loss. Kaya breaks down the UTS vibe too: louder, looser, more movement in the stands, and a totally different pace than what you’d expect from a traditional tour event. It’s exhibition tennis, but the energy is real, and the access can be wild.

Then we get into the main event: my 2025 tennis style and culture awards. This is where we argue (respectfully, but passionately). We talk best dressed on both tours, the outfit that deserved so much more screen time, the brand partnerships that actually felt like real collaborations instead of logos pasted onto performance gear, and the cultural moments that defined how tennis looked and felt this year beyond the scoreboard. There’s Coco Gauff’s fashion runway season, Musetti’s most talked-about kit, Wimbledon’s annual ability to make even casual photos look editorial, and a US Open moment that reminded everyone how powerful tennis can be when it’s intentional, styled, and saying something.

We also hit the lighter side of tennis culture. The photos that became inevitable. The memes that made their way into everyone’s vocabulary. The trends tournament media teams could not let go of. If you lived on tennis social media this year, you already know exactly what I mean.

To wrap it up, I run through a few news items that signal how 2026 is already taking shape: the WTA’s new Mercedes-Benz partnership and what it could mean for the tour’s next era, Madrid’s leadership change with Garbiñe Muguruza stepping into a co-tournament director role, and the Serena Williams testing-pool headline that sparked plenty of speculation (even though she has pushed back on comeback talk). And yes, Next Gen is about to start, which always feels like the official shift from “off-season” to “we’re back.”