Gauff, Sabalenka, Zheng and more starred off the court in 2024

For all the headlines that the stars of the Hologic WTA Tour made on court in 2024, the stories they wrote off the court were just as memorable.

From the buzz around a Hollywood blockbuster to the glossy pages of high-fashion magazines — and even in the lyrics of a hit song — here were some of our favorite pop-culture moments that centered women’s tennis over the last year.

Cover stars: Top 10 lands on top of magazines like Elle, TIME and Vogue

More than once in 2024, some of the tour’s top names starred on newsstands worldwide as the cover stars of various magazines.

In March, Coco Gauff graced the cover of Vogue‘s April cover, where she shined — literally and figuratively — in a glittering, gold Michael Kors dress and was profiled for an accompanying feature by writer Abby Aguirre.

Photographed by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz — known for her work with celebrity portraits — Gauff was joined by her parents and brothers for the photo shoot, and spoke about her 2023 ascent to becoming a Grand Slam champion at the US Open, and all that came after.

A month later, Gauff also landed on the May cover of TIME as the subject of a wide-ranging interview by writer Sean Gregory following her selection as one of the magazine’s annual Women of the Year in February.

But Gauff’s global coverage was just the tip of the iceberg, as many of her peers also landed on regional covers. After winning the Australian Open for a second time in January, Aryna Sabalenka graced the digital cover of Vogue Australiawhile Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen became the first athlete, male or female, to feature on the cover of Vogue China in the fall.

In the midst of a torrid run in the spring clay-court season, where she won Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros consecutively, Iga Swiatek featured on the cover of Elle in her native Poland.

The Challengers effect: Zendaya-led tennis film makes waves

Were you one of the thousands of moviegoers who saw Challengers in theaters in 2024? So were many of the stars of the Hologic WTA Tour. Chronicling a love triangle between a former junior tennis prodigy turned coach, played by Zendaya, with two other players — one, her husband, and the other, her ex-boyfriend — the Hollywood blockbuster was a pop-culture marvel throughout the spring and summer. A critical and commercial success, fashion writers also suggested that the film has contributed to a “tenniscore” trend — sporty and chic looks for day wear — and others even said that the film inspired people to get out and play themselves.

But the fictional tennis stars also resonated with real-life ones. Among many appearances at tournaments last year, Zendaya met with Iga Swiatek after the latter won the BNP Paribas Open, an interaction that Swiatek called “crazy,” while dubbing the A-lister “a fun and great person.”

Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams and 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard, meanwhile, were among the roster of stars that attended the film’s L.A. premiere.

Commenting during the film’s promotional tour that she’d love to meet GauffZendaya also admitted to being inspired by a famous photo shoot that Serena and Venus Williams did as teenagers when she posed for Vogue in April.

Coco gets named-dropped by Tyler, the Creator — and her boyfriend called it

Tennis stars have long found themselves as a source of inspiration for songwriters — noted tennis fan Lil Wayne sampled Elena Dementieva’s grunt in his 2006 song, “Sportscenter,” and two years later, Wyclef Jean wrote a song about Venus Williams — and Gauff found herself the latest subject in the fall when Tyler, the Creator name-dropped her in one of his newest singles.

While Gauff called the surprise “absolutely insane” from an artist she’s been a fan of since her early teens, there was someone close to her who saw it coming — especially after the rapper congratulated her personally with a direct message on Instagram after her October victory the WTA 1000 China Open.

“[M]y boyfriend is like, ‘Watch, he’s going to drop you in a song,'” she said during the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF. “I was like, ‘Yeah, that would be insane. That’s never going to happen.’

“Three weeks later it happened. I was like, ‘Can he see into the future or what?'”

Serena sings about Maria at the ESPY Awards

In July, Serena Williams became the fourth woman to host the ESPY Awardsthe annual awards show celebrating athletic excellence by the sports network ESPN — in conjunction with the release of In the Arena: Serena Williamsa new wide-ranging documentary about her legendary tennis career.

The former World No.1 aced her hosting gig in many ways, but the most legendary moment assuredly when she paid homage to longtime rival Maria Sharapova … in song.

Sharapova took the tribute in stride, saying at Wimbledon in July that she and Williams now get a “good laugh” about everything they experienced in the past.

“We have a lot of fun, we have good chats on our phones,” said the five-time major winner.

Cool things in the concrete jungle

New York is the city that never sleeps — and the tour’s biggest names hardly did either when visiting this year.

Take May’s Met Gala — the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual celebrity fundraiser — where Sharapova and the Williams sisters all dressed to the nines in support of the museum’s Costume Institute.

Days after winning the US Open, Sabalenka had a powerhouse fashion moment of her own when she attended Off-White’s show during New York Fashion Week.

The year-end World No.1 was photographed socializing with Tokyo Olympic gymnastics champion Suni Lee, among other stars.

And to close out the year, two of the US Open’s other top performers — runner-up Jessica Pegula and semifinalist Emma Navarro — returned to usher in tennis back to Madison Square Garden as they competed at an exhibition event with Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton.

To kick off the week, Pegula hit autographed tennis balls into the crowd as a New York Rangers’ game, and presented a fan with her prize when she won an in-arena contest. A day later, the foursome sat courtside at a New York Knicks game, interacted with fans, and distributed more souvenirs.

At the one-time home of the WTA’s season-ending tournament, Navarro beat Pegula to take home the Garden Cup.