Hi {{first name |there}},
This week, we’re getting smarter with 15 expert tips to improve your “doubles IQ!” From where to stand and when to move to which shots give your team the best odds, this guide will help you become the doubles duo to beat!
We’re also thrilled to introduce Michele Cosentino, the founder of Top Banana, a modern sportswear brand inspired by vintage tennis style. Michele shares her on-and off-court obsessions, including a fabulous tennis bracelet and socks that go with sneakers and penny loafers.
In case you missed it, the most popular links in last week’s newsletter were the flattering Rhone Lightspeed tennis dress (currently on sale!); these very well-priced suede penny loafers, and this groovy 3-pack of racquet grips.
Next week, we’ll share the first of our holiday gift guides, with unique ideas for the tennis lovers in your life!
🕵️It’s indoor tennis season for many of us, so here’s a fun trivia question to test your tennis IQ: Which man and which woman have won the most singles titles on indoor courts in the Open Era? Scroll down to the link list for the answer…
Game on; we’re so glad you’re here!
Team Tennisette
❤️P.S.: Know someone who'd love Tennisette? Forward her this email!🎾
15 Pro-Approved Ways to Boost Your Doubles IQ!
We’ve all played that match where our strokes felt great, but we lost 6–3, 6–2 to a team that seemed to be everywhere at once…and just wasn’t that good!
That’s doubles IQ at work: knowing where to stand, when to move, and which shot gives your team the best odds.
The good news is that it’s far easier to learn than a new forehand, so we turned to the doubles experts: Grand Slam champion Gigi Fernandez, strategists Will Boucek of The Tennis Tribe and Craig O’Shannessy (Djokovic’s former analyst), Louis Cayer, the coach behind three men’s doubles world No. 1s, plus three of our favorite Pro File coaches, Doug Lewis, Anna Tatishvili, and Charlie Owens, for the smartest strategies to bring to your next league match.
Control the middle. Tennis strategist Craig O’Shannessy calls the space above the center of the net the “Center Window” because the ball travels through it constantly. “If you control this area, you control the match,” he says. Have a standing agreement with your partner about who takes the center ball in every situation. Former World No. 36 Charlie Owens suggests practicing on both sides, calling and covering the middle ball, until it’s second nature.
Use volleys to choose a side. Women’s doubles champion Gigi Fernandez believes recreational players should be able to play both sides, but when choosing, she weighs volleys over groundstrokes, and advises putting your strongest net player on the side where she can best capitalize on her strengths.
Stop guarding the alley. British doubles coach Louis Cayer says getting passed down the line is one of the biggest fears he sees at the club level. When your opponent has an easy ball, cover the line, but when she’s under pressure, hugging the alley gives her more space and takes away your chance to poach.
Play like a beach volleyball team. O’Shannessy compares good doubles to beach volleyball, where the back player is the “setter,” and the net player is the “spiker.” In his analysis of pro doubles at the Australian Open, about 80% of winners came from the net, even as more players stayed back. If you’re on the baseline, your job is to hit a steady crosscourt ball that sets up your partner to poach.
Move up at the net. Boucek says standing too far back is the most common and costly positioning mistake he sees at the 3.0 to 4.5 level. When taking volleys from the service line, you have to lift them, and they tend to pop up for an easy put-away. Step closer to the net on your partner’s first serve, during baseline rallies (especially when your opponent is on defense), and whenever both opponents are back.
19 Fashionable Finds with Michele Cosentino of Top Banana
Michele Cosentino, founder of clothing brand Top Banana, picked up a racquet for the first time at 42, and after 12 years of USTA league play, she’s still a 3.0—and appealing to “the USTA algorithm gods” for a rating bump every season!
What Michele found on court turned out to be much bigger than a better forehand: a place where a very shy kid and adult who struggled to assert herself could practice being “unapologetically myself.”
Vintage-inspired Top Banana grew out of a similar search. When Covid hit, at loose ends, Michele sewed, wrote, crafted, and built an imaginary world rooted in her 1970s and 80s childhood in upstate New York, when church bells told the time and streetlights coming on meant a fast bike ride home for dinner. Today she lives with her husband, Ari, their two kids, a cat named Lady Di and a yellow Lab named Waffles in a historic farmhouse they’ve restored in Westport, Connecticut.
Michele loves “the sharp lines, sun-bleached colors, and the formality” of tennis style, along with the “beautifully imperfect” struggle of the game: the frustration, the physical and mental battle, awkward moments, resilience, joy, and “messy humanness.”
Here’s Michele on her current style obsessions…
I love our Birchy dress in the OG red, white, and blue! $270
I also happen to love our Top Banana socks ($18): they are the perfect height, and I especially like the look when I wear them with penny loafers off court.
Off court, I wear this packable straw hat everywhere ($287). On court, I wear baseball caps from my kids' schools: mom pride!
The sports bra ($58) I wear is boring and always available in my size, and I swear by these high-waisted undershorts ($64).
I don’t like many sports bags, but here’s one of my favorites—it’s clearly more fashion-focused! $1,125.
I wear Supergoop sunscreen (from $28), Sisley tinted moisturizer ($150), and this Ilia multi-stick ($25.20) on my cheeks and lips. I am taking a break from mascara and am only using this shadow stick ($33) on my eyes.
These hairpins are utterly preposterous but fun! $650. And this is a slight change from the basic tennis bracelet. $3,280.00
I LOVE paper mâché in home décor and vintage novelty items like this silver pillbox ($182) and this print ($50), which hangs in my son’s room.
Shop the Story
Birchy dress $270
In Case You Missed It…
🎁A tennis-themed Advent Calendar would make a fun holiday gift! So many cute ornaments!
🕵️TRIVIA ANSWER: Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova! Navratilova did much of her winning indoors: of her record 239 singles finals on the WTA Tour, 126 were played on indoor carpet, which suited her serve-and-volley game perfectly. Jimmy Connors won 53 indoor titles, just one more than his great rival John McEnroe (52). Remarkably, each man won 43 of those titles on indoor carpet, a fast surface common on tour in the ’70s and ’80s. On indoor hard courts, Roger Federer holds the record, with 24 of his 103 titles on the surface.
And here's something new and juicy from our partner Condé Nast...
Introducing Fair Game from Vanity Fair
Join Mark Guiducci for a series of in-depth and far-reaching conversations with the most interesting characters from the worlds of Hollywood, Politics, Style, Silicon Valley, and beyond. It's all Fair Game.
Elena Rybakina defeated Aryna Sabalenka to win the 2025 WTA Finals
Tournament Calendar
2 November to 8 November: Rolex Paris Masters, ATP 1000, Paris, France
8 November to 15 November: WTA Finals, Indian Wells, USA
8 November to 14 November: Bybit Stockholm Open, ATP 250, Stockholm, Sweden
15 November to 22 November: Nitto ATP Finals, Turin, Italy
24 November to 29 November: Davis Cup Finals, Bologna, Italy
