‘Athlete Arrivals’ debut at Indian Wells: Can the ATP manufacture a viral fashion moment?

This week ATP players stepped out in style at the BNP Paribas Open—the first in a series of fashion-forward “Athlete Arrivals,” the latest stage in the men’s tour’s sartorial strategy.

Styled from head to toe, Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, Frances Tiafoe, Francisco Cerundolo, Jakub Mensik, Zizou Bergs and Alex Michelsen were photographed walking into the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, treating the player entrance like a runway, and the resulting content was splashed across social media.

Last year, the ATP Tour reportedly quadrupled its budget for fashion-focused initiatives—funding stylists, photography, videography, influencer partnerships and content across media platforms—and laid out a dedicated fashion marketing strategy. It also created ATP Styling Studios, which gives players ‘premium one-to-one styling sessions with fashion industry leaders.’

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“There’s a clear intersection in interests between tennis and fashion for our fans,” Andrew Walker, ATP Tour SVP of Brand & Marketing, told Vogue. “We see this as an opportunity to bring fans who might be following the sport more casually deeper into the fold.”

A preview of the initiative was seen at the 2025 US Open—where Alex de Minaur, Tiafoe, Rublev and more select players were styled and photographed as the initiative was unveiled in Vogue Business.

Now the first ‘Athlete Arrivals’ made their debut this week in Indian Wells—a recreation of the types of fashion moments that go viral in other sports, like the NBA and Formula One, and that have made athletes like LeBron James, Jarred Vanderbilt and Lewis Hamilton into cultural crossover stars.

In Indian Wells, Rublev, Cerundolo, Zverev and co. worked with Mabolaji Dawodu, former GQ fashion director who also styled players in NYC, to curate bespoke looks for their upcoming arrival moments and capture content for players to share on their social channels.

“Fashion is deeply rooted in the culture of tennis and creating moments that allow our players to express their own personal style presents a unique opportunity to position tennis within wider cultural conversations and open it up to new audiences,” said Walker.

“This builds on the success of our Styling Studio, which we initially launched as a pilot ahead of the 2025 US Open. It has shown us there’s huge demand among our fans for fashion-facing content.

“With a global pool of athletes and strong visual identity, we’re well placed to lean into this space, bringing new fans into the sport and strengthening our players’ brands in the process.”

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One difference—in basketball and Formula 1, athletes use fashion as a way to show their personalities and stand out from teams and uniforms, so fashion moments unfold organically and feel authentic. Meanwhile, the ATP’s effort is part of an initiative mandated by tour executives as part of a marketing strategy. Does it feel authentic for individual players?

Still, judging by social media reaction, the initial feedback has been positive. And the benefits are immediately obvious, both for the Tour and for the players, who get to show off and explore different sides of their personality, and for their agents, who now have another platform to highlight a sponsor or a new way to position their clients.

Plus, the initiative is nurturing an area where younger ATP players are already showing interest, as they ink partnerships with fashion houses—like Carlos Alcaraz with Louis Vuitton, Jannik Sinner with Gucci and Jack Draper with Burberry—and increasingly have more say in their on-court attire, too.

Draper discussed his involvement in sponsor Vuori’s tennis designs: “We're in an individual sport, and tennis is, I think, becoming more and more fashionable,” he told press at Indian Wells. “It's cool to work with a brand that has such a big vision for themselves. Not only on-court stuff but also off-court. Really comfortable brand.”

“It’s something that we get deeper into every year,” American world No. 8 Ben Shelton said of his own relationship with On. “That’s just been a really cool, organic partnership for me that has grown. I was their first tennis player, and we started with one kit, and it’s just kind of evolved from there.”

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According to the ATP, the fashion strategy is underpinned by three core areas: events, athletes and content.

• Events — focus on Athlete Arrivals moments at tournaments, relevant cultural events and potential collaborations.
• Athlete — focus on creating further ATP Styling Studios moments and fashion crossover opportunities with brands and media for the players.
• Content — focus on establishing media partnerships and content collaborations for the players (amplified through TikTok, Spotify, and via Overtime and paid influencers).

The ATP will have more opportunities to fine-tune its fashion-forward walkout moments, with more Athlete Arrivals planned for select tournaments—including the Miami Open and Madrid Open—and culminating at the ATP Finals in Turin.

In Miami, up to 10 players will be featured in the new set of Athlete Arrivals. The ATP is also set to collaborate with Lacoste on bespoke looks for Grigor Dimitrov (a Lacoste brand ambassador) as well as ‘custom content captured on the city’s streets.