Center Stage

I’m often asked if I get tired of writing about tennis, with the same handful of names always dominating the headlines. After some of the astounding storylines that have unfolded this year—many produced by those familiar names—I’m getting that question less and less. Even more pertinent is this: tennis is at its highest point of popularity in decades.

- Nina Pantic

Earlier this year, Serena Williams and Roger Federer stole the spotlight when they won the Australian Open in their mid-30s. They wowed again a few months later, this time at the Met Gala in New York City, with Federer donning a Gucci tuxedo with a crystal snake design, and Williams proudly toting a baby bump.

It was hardly the first time either superstar has made waves off the court. Federer’s friendship with Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour is well documented (the fashion maven has also been linked to Caroline Wozniacki and Grigor Dimitrov), while Williams—when she wasn’t filming a music video with her pal

Beyoncé—went on to grace the pages of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue with Wozniacki and Eugenie Bouchard. In June, a pregnant Williams was on the cover of Vanity Fair.