Tennis is having a moment. A moment that’s lasted a few years now. Through captivating imagery and imaginative collections, brands like Sporty & Rich, Rowing Blazers, and Casablanca have placed tennis firmly in the minds of the style cognoscenti.
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Now, the scent of the sport has woven its way into our collective olfactory receptors, with fragrance houses looking to bottle the notes of crisp Wimbledon whites, grass, perhaps a touch of sweat, and—bear with us—fresh cans of balls. Founded on the concept of scent as art, every scent from fragrance house Imaginary Authors is designed to tell a story, making each spray a transportive experience. Inspired by the Claude LeCoq novel of the same name, The Soft Lawn conveys the high-society connotations of the sport through notes of grapefruit, ivy leaves, vetiver, oakmoss, and fresh tennis balls.
The slightly chemically, almost petroleum-like scent of the latter note serves as the starting point for D.S. & Durga’s Crush Balls, which sees green grass, rosemary, and white cotton intermingle with yellow fuzz (of fresh—tennis—balls, of course!), white cotton, white florals, and a hard court accord (which features notes of woods and amber). The result is a scent that’s crisp and citrusy yet retains an alluring softness.
Meanwhile, Gen Z-friendly clean fragrance startup Snif tapped into the nostalgic element of tennis through a collaboration with American tennis brand Prince. “Prince made their mark in the ’70s and it still has that nostalgic feel,” noted Phil Riportella, co-founder of Snif. The collaborative scent, Ace Ace Baby, serves up the—non-sweaty—scents of the court, through lemonade accord mixed with notes of white freesia, fresh-cut grass, ginger, rosemary, and pepper.
For Carner Barcelona, a game of tennis poses the perfect interlude to lazy days spent on the Mediterranean coast. In Tennis Club, petitgrain and bergamot lend a verdant freshness, while orange and neroli provide a touch of earthiness. A marine accord recalls salt on the skin, underpinned by a base of musk and cedarwood.
Likewise, Penhaligon’s Racquets—discontinued in 2012 before a reformulation and re-release in 2021—speaks to boozy matches on the med; with the scent leaning into the post match cocktail more than the on-court scents. Here, a heady hit of lemon takes centre stage, swathed in warm, woody ambroxan, and underscored by leatherwood—the latter speaking to the racquets of yesteryear.
Distilling the undeniable leisure, elegant, and laidback appeal of the sport into a bottle, the best tennis-inspired fragrances let you smell like an ace without breaking a sweat.
Words by Theo Rosen
