Tennis Culture Thrives in New York

Tennis fans don’t have to wait for the U.S. Open to get their fix. 

In New York City, the tennis scene is in full bloom if you know where to find it. Of course, that isn’t a mission for the faint of heart. Rather than relying on word-of-mouth, the best way to find the scene is to head to social media, follow tennis creators and indie media, and let the algorithm do the rest. 

Ground Pass, a weekly tennis podcast, is a great place to start. 

After attending every day of the three-week-long U.S. Open in 2023 and overhearing people’s ill-informed bets on who would win the match, Anastasia Folorunso decided it was time to start a tennis podcast.

“I'm always so struck by the people who are there, who have no clue what's happening,” Folorunso told Now Frolic. “They're just here for the vibes and the Honey Deuces. I think that year was the first year I was really exposed to betting. I was like ‘what are all these people doing?’ They're betting on these matches and you're hearing their conversation, and it's so uninformed.”  

Folorunso works as an assistant director, with credits on hit TV shows and movies like Ray Donavan and BlacKkKlansman. Passionate about tennis and a natural storyteller, Folorunso spotted an opportunity to create media for the casual tennis fan. She texted her friend Nick Carter to ask if he’d be down to create and co-host a podcast. He said yes, and Ground Pass was born. 

If you scroll through Ground Pass’ library — especially the early episodes in 2023 — episodes titled 40-love will explain scoring and Slam, Bam, Thank you mam explain the various professional tournaments.  

“We don’t assume listeners know what we know. We try to take the technicalities out of terms and also encourage people to go to tournaments in person,” Folorunso said. 

More than two years and 100 episodes later, Ground Pass’ mission to educate and expose more people to tennis remains the North Star; however, the stories they’re sharing have become more engaging and complex. In the spring of 2024, Folorunso interviewed Stan Smith to help promote his documentary Who is Stan Smith? — a fascinating documentary since most people forget that one of Adidas’ best-selling shoe lines is a living, breathing person and former tennis professional.

Folorunso was able to score an interview with this tennis legend simply by being tuned into the tennis scene and asking for connection. 

“He was awesome … It’s such a beautiful documentary and he talks about how that shoe is just taking him to places that he never knew he would go,” said Folorunso. 

Aside from interviewing legends like Stan Smith, Ground Pass has been galvanizing its community with in-person events. 

On May 31, Ground Pass hosted a viewing party at McCarren Parkhouse in Williamsburg for The French Open followed by a live podcast recording with Racquet – the digital and print tennis publication that has a Vogue-like allure.  

This viewing party/podcast event came together in the way that things in life often do – a bit of serendipity coupled with the impeccable timing and the right people to make it happen. 

Folorunso knew Caitlin Thompson — the founder of Racquet — and reached out to her to see if she would be interested in sharing the Ground Pass viewing party on her feed. Thompson said yes, and then some. 

“She was like ‘Oh yeah! Rennae and I will come over and we'll just do a live podcast after the screening.’ I'm like, ‘Wait, what?’” Folorunso shared. 

Rennae Stubbs isn’t just the host of Racquet’s podcast, she’s also a celebrated retired Australian tennis pro with global accolades. During Stubbs’ professional career, she won four Grand Slam doubles titles, two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, and represented Australia in the Summer Olympics from 1996 to 2008. She also coached Serena Williams for the 2022 U.S. Open, which was Williams’ final grand slam tournament.

The conversation between Folorunso, Thompson, and Stubbs at McCarren Parkhouse became the episode Grounds Pass: Live From Brooklyn. 

Reflecting on this, Folorunso said, “It was one of the most random New York things ever, but it actually was fun and it turned out great!” 

The success of this event already has people reaching out to Folorunso expressing interest in having her host more viewing events. 

“We've already got a lot of interest in Wimbledon,” Folorunso mentioned. 

While Wimbledon starts on June 30, casual fans can start revving up for the tournament now. Head down to 16 Crosby Street in Soho and swing by Pro Shop, a high-caliber, tennis pop-up store that bridges retail, community, and live events. This space feels like a cool art gallery you’re actually allowed to hang out in, speak audibly, and maybe even crack a smile — a rare thing in certain downtown art circles. 

Pro Shop is the brainchild of Vicente Munoz — a former college tennis player and creative who has worked with brands like Prince and Lacoste. Munoz said this endeavor was inspired by his desire to “fill two big gaps in the tennis community. One — to create a convergence point for people to meet other players, connect, and watch matches; and two — [to create] a place to browse a curated selection of tennis apparel, gear, and vintage collectables that are unique or not sold in the normal tennis stores.” 

Pro Shop will be taking over space at 16 Crosby Street until July 16, and after that, Munoz intends to have Pro Shop pop up in other locations across New York and eventually the world. 

“Each version of Pro Shop will be unique but will carry the same communal elements and eclectic selection of goods, each time reflecting its host-city through local brand collaborations … The first iterations will be in NYC, but much like the tennis tour, it will travel to cities internationally,” said Munoz. 

If you don’t make it to Pro Shop in time — don’t worry. The NYC tennis community is here to stay and more creators are continuing to pop up and host events. By following accounts on social media like Ground Pass, Racquet, Pro Shop, and more, your algorithm will kick in and you’ll soon realize the amount of events happening around you — and how eager tennis fans are to engage. 

Folorunso emphasizes this: “the hope is with these screenings people can show up, meet other tennis fans, and then maybe go hit the next day or form a group chat … If we can be that place where we're the hub, then people can go from there.”

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