@WTAreactions: How two strangers created a Twitter phenomenon

NEW YORK—You have probably never heard of Rene Denfeld or Robyn Coupland, but if you are a tennis fan on Twitter, you have probably seen their work. This unlikely doubles team creates the widely shared GIFs for @WTAreactions, a Twitter account with over 14,000 followers dedicated to the expressive stars of the WTA tour.

Denfeld, a 27-year-old meteorologist in Germany, and Coupland, 26 and currently unemployed in England, didn’t know each other when they started creating their short, moving images, and have yet to meet in person.

It all began during this year’s WTA tournament in Rome, when the tour produced a short video of the Top 9 players reenacting popular emojis. Through their replies to the WTA’s tweets about the clip, Denfeld (@Renestance) and Coupland (@roobynVC) ended up connecting on Twitter.

Their first few GIFs centered on the emoji video, and the rest is (online) history.

“Robyn said, ‘I wish the Twitter handle @tennisreactions hadn’t been taken yet,’” Denfeld says. “I suggested to go with @WTAreactions, so that’s how it started.”

While the GIFs are good-natured humor and creative comedy, Denfeld and Coupland don’t consider themselves funny at all. Both in their mid-20’s, the millennial slang they regularly employ—like “on fleek” and “bae”—relates to a large set of young, web-savvy fans. Where their genius truly lies is in deeply knowing both their followers and the players.

“It’s working towards your audience,” Denfeld says. “Humor is very much depends on the people, the individuals, its very subjective. Some people might find it funny. Some people would roll their eyes and think that’s so stupid.”

The pet project turned phenomenon takes a lot of time, patience, and computer skills. Every GIF is created using Adobe Photoshop, the preferred program for Denfeld and Coupland. Their turnaround time is quick, with GIFs sometimes appearing on Twitter minutes after a live, on-court moment. Recently they’ve begun creating cartoon-like animations.

Neither Coupland or Denfeld plays tennis seriously, but as avid fans, they know which players are most likely to create GIF-able moments. The two coordinate watching matches, then brainstorm together to write the witty captions—which they both say is the toughest part.

“Perhaps we should reach out and ask people for captions, because we struggle so much with captions,” Coupland says. “If anyone suggests anything, we’re open to listening.”

The @WTAreactions unofficial mascot is the famously expressive Alize Cornet, but neither founder lays claim to a favorite player. “I try to not have personal favorites, because it skews the perspective,” Denfeld says. “I try to keep an open mind.”

An @ATPreactions account also exists, but the pair isn’t involved with it, and it lacks the same following (it currently has just under 5,000 followers) and spot-on humor. Plus, according to Denfeld, the ATP has had issues with people creating GIFs and Vines of matches and players.

That isn’t the case with the WTA, so much so that its players have become some of @WTAreactions’ biggest fans. Andrea Petkovic, Victoria Duval, Laura Robson, Irina Falconi, Shelby Rogers and CoCo Vandeweghe are just a few of the account’s famous followers. World No. 4 Petra Kvitova recently retweeted a cheeky gem, giving more credence to @WTAreactions’ motto: Tennis players—they’re just like you.

“It so spot on to our real personalities it's a joke!” Vandeweghe says. “I absolutely love it.”

Reaching over 14,000 Twitter followers in just four months is no easy feat. @WTAreactions has no sponsors or ads, and isn’t looking to monetize their work. When they started out, neither Denfeld nor Coupland expected it to be much more than a fun time.

“I knew it’d be popular around the hardcore tennis fans. Since then it’s spiraled out of control, really,” Coupland says. “Players followed it, and all of Twitter seems to love it. I certainly never imagined how many people would see it, how many players would see it.”

“We're just doing it for fun at the moment. We enjoy it and a lot of people enjoy it,” Denfeld says. “If it leads to anything that’s great. If not, my world won’t come crumbling down.”

But if they ever stop masterminding tennis GIFs, ours might.