With the US Open taking over New York and Fashion Week just around the corner, tennis has never felt more intertwined with fashion, culture, and lifestyle. Enter Courting Tennis, the New York-based brand founded by Courtney Kelly, which launched earlier this year with Whitney Port and has quickly carved out a space at the intersection of sport and style. On August 28th, the brand unveiled Courting East, a capsule collection created in collaboration with designer Nini Molnar and inspired by summers Out East, the nostalgia of East Coast tennis, and the culture surrounding the sport in New York. Molnar, who is married to professional tennis player Márton Fucsovics, also reimagined several of her signature pom bags for the collection. Ahead of the US Open, we sat down with Courtney to talk about tennis’ fashion moment, the energy of New York, the inspiration behind Courting East, and what’s next for Courting Tennis.
SPOTLIGHT: Tennis has become such a major force in fashion and pop culture beyond the court. Why do you think tennis style is having such a moment right now?
KELLY: Tennis has always had incredible style, but I think people are having more fun with it now. This generation of players—Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff, Marta Kostyuk and so many others—are bringing such a strong personal point of view to the court through bold silhouettes, color and elevated fashion pieces. They’re showing that performance and personal style don’t have to be mutually exclusive. And tennis clothes naturally translate beyond the court. You can wear a great polo, skirt, sweater or jacket almost anywhere. There’s an ease to it that I think people really connect with.
SPOTLIGHT: With the US Open taking over New York, what does the tournament—and the energy surrounding it—mean to you from a fashion and cultural perspective?
KELLY: I really love this question. Being from New York and going to the Open every year, the energy is different every time, which is what makes it that much more fun. I’m someone who really goes off energy, and there’s almost this unspoken rule when you go to the Open that you know you’re going to have the best experience. I’ve also watched the style evolve from Agassi in the late ’80s and ’90s to what Naomi is doing today. Everyone puts their own spin on it, but somehow it always comes back to the roots and original silhouettes of tennis. You’re watching some of the most intense athleticism in the world married with incredible personal style. And even if you can’t make it to the grounds, the entire city gets into the spirit. There are so many incredible things happening around New York that you can still feel like you’re part of it, ideally with a Honey Deuce in hand.
SPOTLIGHT: How has New York and the US Open influenced the way you think about Courting Tennis and the collections you create?
KELLY: For me, it’s always the energy. It’s palpable. The US Open is really where my infatuation with tennis started. I grew up loving basketball and hockey games and that same sense of unbridled fandom and community, but there was always something different about tennis. I loved the discipline and intensity of the sport married with the fashion and individuality of the players. Neither had to be siloed, and that has really influenced how I think about Courting. We don’t need to be everything to everyone. I want to create for people who don’t want to compromise between performance, fashion and how something makes them feel.
SPOTLIGHT: Courting East is inspired by summers Out East and the culture surrounding tennis in New York. What was the inspiration behind the collection, and what did you want it to capture?
KELLY: I say this a lot, but I always go back to nostalgia and how things made you feel. Courting East felt like the natural next chapter because it was so personal to me and my story, and I wanted to share that. I grew up spending summers Out East, and tennis was such a staple of those summers. I could wake up, grab my racket and find a court without needing a membership. I looked forward to it every year.
With this collection, we wanted to capture that feeling through a little East Coast prepiness married with the edge of the ’90s, while also showing the lifestyle surrounding the sport. Some of my favorite memories Out East haven’t really changed. The beaches are still the beaches. The courts are still there. There’s something really special about that. Courting East is sport, style, nostalgia and summer all wrapped together, and I think you can feel that energy throughout the collection.
SPOTLIGHT: You collaborated with designer Nini Molnar on Courting East. How did the partnership come together, and what did she bring to the collection?
KELLY: I don’t know why I get a little teary answering this, but I think it was love at first sight. Nini came to our launch party in Palm Springs and I got to chat with her a little bit, although I was running around like a crazy person. She ended up wearing our Courting Zip to her husband’s match, the look went viral, and I basically kept sliding into her DMs until I eventually asked if she would be interested in collaborating with us. She is an incredible handbag designer, so it felt like such a natural fit.
I cannot say enough amazing things about Nini. She is absolutely someone to watch. Her creativity and business acumen are wildly impressive, and the energy and thoughtfulness she brought to this collection were unmatched. These are the kinds of partnerships that really excite me because Courting is obviously deeply connected to tennis, but I’m equally interested in the culture around the game—the family, the friends, the fans, the fashion, all of it. Nini understands that world so authentically, and I think you can feel that throughout the collaboration.
SPOTLIGHT: As tennis continues to blur the lines between sport, fashion, and lifestyle, where do you see Courting Tennis fitting into that larger cultural conversation—and what’s next for the brand?
KELLY: I love this question so much. I always say that we’re world-building with Courting. You’ll see us show up in the obvious places, but hopefully in some not-so-obvious places too. We love creating experiences where people can feel the pieces, engage with the brand, and become part of the community, but I’m equally excited about more focused brand activations where Courting can show up in meaningful, relevant ways. Being part of the recent Snoopy in Style event and creating tennis merchandise for that world is a perfect example.
That’s what excites me most about what’s next. We’re talking to professional players, emerging designers, and some more storied names about what we can create together. I don’t think Courting needs to live exclusively on a tennis court, because the culture surrounding the game is so much bigger than that. There is no ceiling for Courting. We’re only six months in, and I genuinely feel like we’re just getting started.
