30-Love: Desirae Krawczyk's Almost-Calendar Year Slam

From individuals to organizations, weekend warriors to professional players, minute observations to big-picture ideas, tennis has been top of mind across the board over the past two years.

“I feel like this is the tennis boom part two,” says Trey Waltke, general manager of the Malibu Racquet Club in southern California. “Everyone is talking tennis. Everyone is playing. People are rediscovering how great tennis is.”

Tennis shouldn’t rest on its laurels; the first boom didn’t last forever. But this is as good of an opportunity to reflect on what the sport has gotten right, during a time when so much has gone wrong.

Over the next few weeks, we'll do just that, with a series of stories—30-Love—that highlights 30 things worth celebrating about the New American Tennis Boom. Look for past articles on the left side of each page.—Ed McGrogan

Desirae Krawczyk is the epitome of a team player. As a junior growing up in Southern California, the doubles events were always her tournament highlight.

“The team environment and getting to play with your friends means you’re always having fun,” she said at this year’s US Open, where she reached the semifinals in women’s doubles.

The American doubles specialist has had even more fun in 2021, peaking inside the Top 20 and winning back-to-back-to-back mixed doubles majors with Joe Salisbury (French and US Opens) and Neal Skupski (Wimbledon).

“It’s a little different in a way, because you’ve got guys with big serves helping you dominate at the net,” she said when comparing the disciplines. “The confidence can transition between both, so playing well in mixed can absolutely help me in women’s doubles.”

Krawczyk made the decision early in her career to transition out of singles and has never looked back, barnstorming onto the WTA with the help of good friend Giuliana Olmos (who she beat in this year’s US Open mixed doubles final).

“I’ve had a good group of friends to help me out on tour. They helped me survive being in these [pandemic] bubbles or even when you’re down in 15Ks playing on a small island in Thailand,” she says. “That’s the toughest part of when you’re first starting out.”

That camaraderie can even help singles players, notes Krawczyk, who believes confidence is key to success on the court.

“You see a lot of singles players playing doubles when they want to get a few more matches in and they may not be feeling that confident—they can get those opportunities in doubles.”