Melissa Kenny: Hi Dan. Miss you! You said you haven't hit since last year. Does that mean you've been meddling in other sports/workouts?
Daniel-Yaw Miller: Back soon! Yeah, I haven’t hit since December but I’ve been in the gym almost every day since instead. It’s way less fun but I’ve been enjoying strength training as a substitute to being outside on the court.
MK: The people should know we met on Substack and now we're friends and hitting partners. Why did you start your newsletter?
DYM: I started SportsVerse, my Substack, because I wanted to keep writing stories and analysis about the business and cultural world at the intersection of the fashion and sports industries. It’s what I used to do as a previous day job in London, and wanted to carry that on when I moved to NYC. I quickly partnered with another platform, OffBall, where I now have worked for a year.
MK: I love things at the intersection of other things. But sincerely, it's easy to see why SportsVerse gathered momentum so quickly. You don't just report on stuff in a staid, one-dimensional way—it's more... bringing together a lot of far-flung disparate stuff to reveal connections people weren't necessarily thinking about. Which requires so much breadth and depth of knowledge! Like, you can't ChatGPT your way into what you're doing; it feels quite intricate. Which posts about tennis have people resonated with most?
DYM: I think the two that hit the most were articles about how On disrupted the tennis category and shook things up for brands like Nike and Adidas, who had dropped the ball a little, and another article about how tennis was filled with so many legacy brands that make incredible products but kind of take it easy on the marketing and don’t care about wanting to be cool, like Yonex or Babolat, etc.
What about you? What inspired Hard Hitting?
MK: So I got my start in 2012 writing about fashion and pop culture for a magazine called Oyster. Print, but mostly online. I've been a for-hire writer for nearly 15 years now, but most of what I do now is consulting with brands on voice, content strategy, and how they show up at large. I started Hard Hitting because I wanted something that was mine; that wasn't concerned with CTR and AOV (click-through rates!!! Average order value!!!); that would coax my brain back into writing for pleasure again. I play tennis 4-5 times a week when the weather lets me, so it felt very natural to write about recreational tennis; mostly my frustrations with it because I love to complain.
DYM: When I first came across Hard Hitting (I think it was the piece about where to play tennis in Brooklyn), what I really enjoyed about it was the balance between pure comedy and cheeky takes with genuine insight, reporting and niche lore on the intricacies of each court. That kind of shines through in all your pieces.
MK: Aww thanks Dan. Any predictions for what we can expect from Nike and Adidas this year? Or which players will be best dressed?
DYM: I think Adidas is still a bit lost in tennis but now clearly understands it needs to do more. Nike is definitely working on a comeback in tennis in a big way. That’s not to say it’s going to be going out and signing an athlete roster the size it used to have, but it’s going to be investing way more in marketing and special projects with the players it does have, now they’re working with a more consolidated group that’s heavy on star power. I’m looking forward to seeing Carlos’ signature line rolled out and how they continue to work in his love of basketball and soccer into his on-court fits.
MK: Right. I guess if you're one of the Big Two (legacy sports brands) it's hard to keep doing the least when a more niche brand like Wilson (its apparel business, I mean) is putting them to such profound shame. Marta Kostyuk was the blueprint, and now they're extending those 360 sponsorship deals to players like Alex De Minaur. I hope I'm much much more impressed by Nike and Adidas fits this year.
MK: What are my best and worst qualities as a hitting partner? And don't be polite.
DYM: Best qualities: You're a great hitting partner, easy going, you don't like to waste time, you're competitive in a way that makes it still enjoyable to hit. One of my fav memories was on the second time we ever hit and I asked if you wanted to warm up in the service boxes and you just said: "nah I hate all that shit," and headed for the baseline haha.
Worst qualities: you never want to practice serving!! And your phone ran out of storage that one time when you were meant to be recording me and I hit the craziest trick shot. Okay, your turn.
MK: Okay I feel like I somewhat showed my cards in your 'What's in my bag' story, so for best I'm doubling down on your ability to laugh at yourself which has rubbed off on me a lot. I'm very much an energy matcher—so if you're taking it super seriously then so am I. I don't necessarily want to be that way, though!!!! You're also great at rallying consistently down the center, while knowing the right moment to end it all and hit a winner.
I sincerely can't think of a worst. There's been times when I've applauded your serving, only for you to then immediately miss a string of serves. That sounds more like MY bad quality and I can keep quiet in the future.
DYM: I definitely remember the time when I was serving so beautifully and then missed like 10 in a row.
MK: Yes, that exact time! I put thoughts in your head where no thoughts previously were and for that I apologize.
DYM: We also have to speak about when you beat me 6-0 in the first ever proper set we played.
MK: I don’t remember that! Not even being coy. Did I… play well? Or did you just kind of bomb?
DYM: Both! What's one thing you wanna improve in your game in 2026?
MK: I meannn it’s gotta be my serve. You have permission to force me into sets every time we hit now—this is a public record of that! Specifically, I need to develop my T serve on the deuce side. What about you?
DYM: I'll hold you to that. Same for me. My serve for sure. I love my second serve but also want to make it a bit faster now that I'm getting my consistency up.
Melissa Kenny writes the See You in Court column for Racquet, and writes the essential recreational tennis Substack Hard Hitting. Daniel-Yaw Miller writes the Sportsverse Substack for OffBall. They're both modeling our new French Touch Satin Jacket.
