Ben Johnson 101: How an Instagram auteur is defining modern tennis lifestyle

“You’ve got tennis, and it can be quite insular,” says Ben Johnson. “But then you’ve got the fashion side, which is huge. The gear, the racquets, the courts, the travel. That is where I see myself.”

Widely regarded for his Instagram page @thetennis101, Johnson is pioneering tennis content in an era where it’s nearly impossible to stand out. To his 375,000 followers, the account is like a box of chocolates: they never know what they’re going to get—but they’re probably going to like it.

Fitness tips and fit checks? Check.

Cinematic lifestyle reels? They’re there.

Charming interactions with professional athletes? Ben is serving up those.

BTS and ASMR from tournaments, events and beyond? This is the account for you.

“That’s a big thing for me,” Johnson says from his apartment in London. “When you’re scrolling through it, I like it to be kind of like a magazine.”

On this mid-October day, the Johnson’s flat is the opposite of his flawlessly curated page: it’s messy, with columns of packing containers reaching high after a recent move. The life change is one of the few things that can keep Johnson grounded. Akin to the drones employed in many of his videos, Johnson seems to float from one picturesque place to another, capturing tennis’ inherent lifestyle connection in a singular light.

Over the last month the @thetennis101 has, in part:

• Shot and directed a campaign with Oakley Meta glasses
• Partnered with Adobe to highlight Lightroom—editing software Johnson uses for his own content

• Been seen standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, and seated behind Anna Wintour (both sitting on stacks of Lacoste-branded towels)
• Released a reel of his time at the Swiss Open in Gstaad, including drone shots of the Alps, a mountain-top mini court and the tournament venue

“It hits different,” comments Charles Bertimon, an active player and fellow model-influencer, of the Gstaad sequence.

“So pretty,” writes Hall of Famer Kim Clijsters. To which @thetennis101 responds, the best 🌲 ⛰️

I didn’t want to be one-dimensional. Ben Johnson

Johnson is essential to the internet tennis experience—which boosts tennis interest in real ways: more fandom, leading to more viewership, leading to more participation. The USTA wants 35 million tennis players by 2035, and undoubtedly some of them will have found the sport through @thetennis101.

On his Paris Fashion Week post, Oli Maitland believes “This guy spends no more than 2 weeks MAX at home annually.”

home = ✈️, replies @thetennis101.

“I think I’ve been home for maybe a month of the year, six weeks, something like that,” Johnson muses. “I got back from Paris a week ago and then I had to move apartments, so I haven’t really relaxed yet.”

What was Ben doing there? Creating a tennis court in the middle of the city, in haute couture, to help promote the Rolex Paris Masters’ move to La Defense—all shot by renowned videographer Cyril Masson.

“For me,” says Johnson, “it was nice putting down the camera for once and just focusing on acting and modeling.”

“But yeah, honestly, I’m not home often. Which is strange,” adds Johnson, before his phone tips over and interrupts our video call. Propped up on a makeshift stand, the tumble reveals ever more packing containers.

In one of his videos, Johnson unboxes a limited-edition set of Novak Djokovic Lacoste apparel. If time allows, his on-the-job experience will be put to more good use.

It would appear Johnson was born on third base when it comes to his tennis connections. That this was the path he expected to blaze from day one.

@thetennis101 first posted on January 10, 2023: a picture in Dubai of Johnson with Holger Rune.

The second post, eight days later, was a snap of Ben next to Novak Djokovic.

But like most things in tennis, it came together with a grinding mentality, a long view—and some good fortune.

As a kid, Johnson was consumed with making videos and music. Necessary outlets for his creative sensibilities. At 12 he had a laptop with a camera, and started piecing together “random skits” and “funny comedy videos.”

He studied economics at university, worked in finance—“hated it,” he includes— then in social media and, eventually, marketing. He became creative director at a couple of firms before freelancing.

The genesis of @thetennis101 was probably always inside Johnson, but it wasn’t until the Covid pandemic that the pieces of the puzzle began to emerge.

“I didn’t play for years,” says Johnson, who first enjoyed tennis in summer camps as a boy. “I just started playing again in lockdown.

“There were these courts in my apartment complex where I used to live, and I didn’t play tennis any time I’d lived there. These two guys were coaching people on the court, and I was like, ‘Maybe I’ll try’—and I got hooked again.”

Johnson believes he’s playing at “a really good level now,” which checks out as you peruse his feed. He trains with pros daily and embraces an uber-healthy lifestyle. His strokes are refined and, seemingly everywhere, he’s filming a solid hit. Or a tennis clinic he’s teaching. Or a tutorial on equipment. Or a stretching video that both keeps him limber and us informed.

He lacks an ATP ranking, but not a tour-level mindset.

Two years ago, Johnson left his job and pushed all in on his risky, revealing and, ultimately, rewarding concept.

“This wasn’t meant to be my job, by the way,” Johnson says. “I left my job and I was like, ‘What the hell am I gonna do?’

“But I made the page and, in the first six months, it garnered a lot of viewership across all the socials, Instagram, TikTok.”

The clips that did the best were tennis fundamentals, edited with care: changing an overgrip (113,000 likes on Instagram); adding lead tape to your racquet (18,000 likes); finding your forehand grip (21,000 likes).

Realizing success, @thetennis101 ventured out into other parts of the sport, often with a humorous bend. Such as this “When tennis players play padel” video, which currently has over 200,000 likes:

“All those videos got over a million views,” Johnson says, “and I was like, oh, what's going on here?

“Like, this is crazy.”

It would only get crazier—and more creative. In a video from July 2024, Ben shows off a bespoke closet made to efficiently store and access his trove of tennis equipment, from clunky racquets to his hat collection to accessories in various colorways. He built it himself, for about £250, after a trip to Ikea.

That same month, with Wimbledon taking place, he put together a two-second clip about viewing habits that became his most popular video on Instagram: over 391,000 likes.

“You have to sort of go down the funny viral route first,” Johnson says of his timeline, “and then you can start introducing the sort of super niche, kind of luxury lifestyle tennis content that I do now—which is what I love to do, bigger productions with the music, the grading, the cinematic-esque filming.”

There’s no better feeling I get than finishing editing a video, with the cool music, and just sitting down and watching it 100 times in a row. Ben Johnson

Johnson uses the word cinema often in our conversation. It’s the antithesis of most content that fills social-media algorithms: brain rot, lo-fi if not lowbrow, captured in often careless ways for the purpose to capture a view.

Rather than a cheap score, tennis’ Instagram auteur aspires for something much more.

“I film, edit and come up with all the creative ideas for my page,” Johnson says proudly. “It’s me with a tripod, I fly the drone, I grade everything myself, edit everything myself.

“It’s now my full-time job.”

Johnson has become more selective with the brands he works with. There are good reasons for this.

The first is his available time. Johnson recently inked a deal with IMG, putting him in an even better position to grow. But the talent agency’s extensive support system can only mitigate his commitments so much.

The second is the time Johnson demands of himself on projects he commits to. The do-it-all entrepreneur treats frames of a Wilson-branded .mp4 like Roger and Serena treated their Wilson frames. Milliseconds matter.

Videos on @thetennis101 are designed to be timeless, but even for master craftsmen, there remain just 24 hours in a day.

“Every job I take, I treat it as if it’s my own company,” says Johnson, who has also created and directed campaigns for Ralph Lauren and Four Seasons Hotels.

Prestigious partnerships like these are uncommon for solo creators—but having found a unique niche in luxury tennis media, opportunities for Johnson abound. That’s both a blessing and a curse.

“You have to start turning things down,” he says. “I don’t want to become a catalog.”

What @thetennis101 has become is a hyper-considered lookbook that appeals to an array of sports fandom, from curious casuals getting served videos to diehards helping shape the tennis zeitgeist. It’s part of a trend Johnson has deftly maneuvered, forming his own web-based world.

The fictional @wannalearntennis6384 won’t get a response from Carlos Alcaraz if she DM’s him to learn more about his gear. But Johnson, who parks time for messaging with his followers, aims to connect with fans on a deeper level.

“It’s relatable,” says Johnson of his work. “They trust you, and you are a credible source who isn’t out of reach for them. I want to inspire and grow the sport of tennis through this wider culture.”

I don’t want people to think of me as a figure, I want them to get me and my personality. Ben Johnson

As the name implies, @thetennis101 is all-encompassing must for anyone, whether they have a passing interest in tennis or a passing shot in their arsenal. The page is an introduction to everything his sport offers, and he’s proud of the growth it has spurred: both personally and professionally, and by extension, tennis at large.

The page is built upon pillars, Johnson says, giving it stability. At the same time, it pushes the envelope, relentlessly striving for something new.

“I always say my page is to showcase tennis in a way that’s never been seen before.”