OPEN Tennis #3
242 x 330 mm, 136 pages
New York, US
First published in 2024
Editorial director: David Shaftel
Creative director: David Bartholow
Art director: Larry Buchanan
OPEN Tennis is a new title helmed by former Racquet co-founder David Shaftel, which pointedly aims to ‘stop fetishizing the past, and get on with creating a new storyline’ for both a historically insular sport and—if reading between the (base)lines—tennis media at large.
A fresh departure from other tennis titles on our shelves with its large format, it marries tennis with fashion, art, psychology, and slightly nerdy equipment deep cuts, while acknowledging the magazine is ‘still in the process of becoming what it wants to be.’
This third issue brings together stories that foreground real-world connections within tennis culture. Between full-page spreads filled with imaginative illustrations, paintings, and photographs, you’ll find a selection of stories honouring artisanal intelligence: Simon Cambers advocates for the regulation of AI-generated tennis titles on Amazon; artist Andrew ‘Herm’ Hermida captures the 2025 Japan Open in colourful ink; Simon Hegelund pens an ode to the boundary-pushing tennis player and multi-disciplinary artist Torben Ulrich; Patrick Sauer sits down with Gabriel Allen, author of Tennis Tensions; and, Courtney Nguyen breaks down the recent trend towards gifting in Chinese tennis fan culture. There’s also a bagel-shaped infographic of the top 25 players on the ATP Tour; a profile of Lebanon’s No.1 tennis player, Hady Habib; as well as, a breakdown of OT’s favourite tennis photo books.