The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 U.S. Open. NEW YORK — Five years ago, on a tennis court in California, Thea Frodin raised her racket and served.There was no real match on the line. Frodin was pretending to be actress Demi Singleton, who was pretending to be a young Serena Williams in the 2021 film “King Richard,” about Richard Williams raising and coaching his daughters, Serena and Venus, to tennis superstardom.On Tuesday at the U.S. Open, Frodin played herself on one of the biggest stages in tennis.The 17-year-old from California made her debut at Flushing Meadows and her first Grand Slam appearance, losing 6-3, 6-2 to No. 2 Elena Rybakina.“I feel good,” Frodin said during an interview after the match. “Obviously, I’m disappointed to be out first round, or this soon, but I feel like I had a great experience playing on Grandstand. And the home crowd, and a lot of people were cheering for me — probably the most people that have ever cheered for me before on the court.
“Overall, I have a lot of positives to take away from today.”Frodin’s father introduced her to the sport around age 4. In 2019, she won singles, doubles and mixed doubles at the USTA SoCal Junior Sectional Championships, which earned her an invitation to audition for the role as Serena’s body double. When she was 12, she spent six months on set with stars like Will Smith, who played Richard, filming the movie.“I just remember having a great time and having some fun memories with the actors there and Will Smith,” she said. “It was super fun.”Frodin grew up watching Serena, so she had no problem mimicking her strokes. The issue came when she reverted to her own style after shooting wrapped.“I ended up kind of changing my normal technique to hers, so my coaches were a little bit upset about that, but I got it back eventually,” she said.The two have never met. However, on Tuesday, Frodin took the court at a tournament Serena has won six times — and where she played last week, losing in the mixed doubles quarterfinal with Carlos Alcaraz, three months after announcing her comeback.Meanwhile, Frodin is just getting started. She secured her spot at the U.S. Open with a wild card after winning the USTA girls’ 18s national championships. She plans to play in the girls’ singles at this year’s U.S. Open and a few upcoming tournaments in California, but she hasn’t yet decided whether to play in college.“I’m trying to just finish high school, see where the rest of this year takes me,” she said.Frodin remains open to potential future acting opportunities; she loves to sing. And, of course, she has her sights on future U.S. Open appearances.“Hopefully, the next time I am here, if I do, I can be more experienced and see what I can do,” Frodin said.
