Skip to Content
Guides

Racquet’s 2025 Summer Must-Have List

Whether you’re attending the US Open or killing it on your local court, our annual Summer Must-Have list goes beyond the basics. We’ve rounded up the best in fashion, wellness, and accessories to bring your warm-weather play to the next level.

By Lindsay Goldwert

4:08 PM EDT on May 30, 2025

On Court

Leg Day. (Courtesy Lorenzo Musetti via Mutua Madrid Open.)

The hottest collab of summer. Make it look like every day is leg day in these stylish Lore Musetti-approved mid-rise shorts. (Asics + A.P.C. shorts, $90. Gel-Resolution x Clay shoes, $230).

Soft, louche, and breathable, these sleek wide-leg sweats will be your new weekend favorites. (Nike 24.7 Impossibly Soft Dri-FIT High-Waisted Loose Flared Pants, $120). 

The entire 24.7 collection meets our louche needs on and off court. (Courtesy Nike.)

Show off your sock game. High performance meets Grand Slam colourways. (Comme Si sport socks, $35). 

Serve on and off the court in these light, extra-cushioned, sherbet-accented kicks. (K•Swiss Ultrashots, $170). 

Channel your inner Carlos Alcaraz. Step up your clay game and add some RPMs to your topspin. (Babolat Pure Aero 98, $299).

Wellness & Recovery

Hormbles. Chormbles.

There’s nothing more boring than being too virtuous. Curb the sugar while keeping your sweet candy habit. (Hormbles Chormbles, 12 for $35).  

Keep your energy up and your macros in check with these 150 calorie, peanut butter-y, fudge-y, (and actually delicious) protein bars. (David variety pack, $25). 

Colostrum isn’t just for babies. We love the way it makes our skin feel and how it gives our microbiomes a boost. (Armra: Colostrum Performance Revival, $79).

All your daily fiber and veggies without the chore of eating a sad salad? We say yes. (Gruns, $87.99). 

Keep it tight on-court and off with our preferred (and pre-cut) kinesiology tape. (KT Tape, $20.99)

It may be trendy, but tart cherry is actually the OG recovery aid. These gummies help rebuild muscle and reduce inflammation. (Cheribundi, $45).

Off Court & Accessories

You're either serious about timepieces or you're not. (Courtesy Rolex.)

Okay: Subtle, it’s not. But we can fantasize about seeing sunlight hit that honeycomb baby-blue bezel on this future-forward platinum jaw-dropper. (Rolex Land-Dweller 40, $64,200). 

A triomphe. (Courtesy Lacoste.)

Pleats? Oh, yes please. This too-chic skirt-shaped leather bag has been drawing crowds all season. Lacoste Small Lenglen Leather Bag, $225). 

These updated classics will add old-school California love to your net game. (K-Swiss Si-18 Rivals, $125). 

No spoilers! The Racquet book club is buzzing about Katie Chandler’s Backhanded Compliments, a sexy story about tennis rivals. (Simon & Schuster, $18.99).

Adaptive and adaptable. (Courtesy Fred Perry.)

Accessibility meets iconic style. Magnetic fastenings make it easy to look effortlessly chic. (The Adaptive Fred Perry Shirt, £75).

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Racquet

Back on the Ranch

In 1957, John Gardiner raised the bar at a tennis resort in Carmel. There's no one left who can reach it.

October 22, 2025

Shanghai Masters Was a Mirror Held up to China

Between the brand activations and choreographed energy, it felt like modern China itself: futuristic and polished; still striving to assert its place on the world stage.

October 16, 2025

Have Padel will Travel

Padel has emerged as a more-approachable alternative to tennis, drawing in a vast customer base eager for a sport that eschews the traditional formality often associated with tennis clubs. This shift speaks to a broader opportunity in presenting a warm front door that’s wide open for newcomers; Tennis could stand to take note.

October 10, 2025

Tennis by Sea

In which a never-cruiser cruises, crushes balls, converts.

October 8, 2025

Roscoe Tanner’s Second Serve: The ’80s Bad Boy in Teeny Tacchinis

We talked with Grand Slam winner and former world no. 4 Roscoe Tanner—at one time everyone’s favorite bad boy—about his time on tour with Borg and Ashe, getting out on the Champions Tour [Jim Courier: please make it happen], and tiny shorts. His new book, Second Serve, reconciles past mistakes (and there were quite a few) with what he’s learned since. 

October 7, 2025

Is Anyone Having Any Fun?

At this point, who is going to be able to make it through this meat grinder of a season? Do the the tour finals still matter no matter how many friends they lose, or people they leave dead and bloodied and dying along the way? Plus: No matter who REALLY started the conspiracy theories about courts getting slower (looking at you, Roger), you can count on Alex Zverev to whine about it.

October 6, 2025
See all posts