Five years after portraying a young Serena Williams on screen, seventeen-year-old Thea Frodin steps onto the US Open main draw as herself — a wildcard who earned her place not through casting, but through competition. Her path from film set to Grand Slam court is a quiet meditation on identity: how deeply we can absorb our heroes, and the patient work required to find our own shape again. Facing world number two Elena Rybakina in her professional debut, Frodin carries with her both the weight of imitation and the freedom of having finally shed it.
From Serena's Stand-In to US Open Debut: Teen Frodin's Dream Match
Playing her hero had nearly erased her own game
Mark
So she was literally Serena's body double in a movie, and now she's playing at the US Open. That's the whole story, right?
Mimi
It's the frame, but not the whole thing. The movie work was five years ago when she was twelve. What matters now is that she's seventeen, she won a national championship, and she's earned a wildcard into the main draw. The film is interesting because it shaped her—literally, her coaches had to help her unlearn Serena's strokes.
Luke
But how good is she, really? She's ranked 580th. Her best junior result is a semi-final at the Australian Open. She's never played a top-100 player before Miami. And now she's facing the world number two. That's not a competitive match; that's a story match.
Mimi
It is a story match. But that doesn't make it less real. She earned her spot. She beat other players to win that championship. And yes, she's a massive underdog against Rybakina, but that's what makes it worth watching.
Mark
What did the film work actually do to her game?
Mimi
She spent six months learning to move and hit like Serena. When she stopped filming, she couldn't stop doing it. Her natural style had been overwritten. Her coaches had to help her find herself again.
Luke
That's interesting, but I want to know: is she actually good? Or is this a feel-good story about a kid who got a wildcard and will lose in the first round?
Mimi
Those aren't mutually exclusive. She's good enough to have won a national championship and reached a major semi-final as a junior. She's not good enough to beat Rybakina. But she's seventeen. The question isn't whether she wins on Tuesday. It's whether this is the beginning of something.
Mark
And the Williams connection—is that real, or is it just marketing?
Mimi
The film work was real. She actually worked with Will Smith. But she hasn't met Serena or Venus yet. She hopes to during the tournament. That part is still a dream.
Luke
So we don't know if they'll even acknowledge her. We know she was in their movie. We don't know if they know who she is.
Mimi
Right. That's the honest version of the story.
Il Polso
- A teenage actress who once mimicked Serena Williams so convincingly that her own game disappeared now faces the world's second-ranked player in her Grand Slam debut.
- The psychological cost of the role was real — coaches had to intervene to help Frodin unlearn Serena's strokes and reclaim a playing style that was genuinely her own.
- She has moved fast to prove herself: a junior semi-final at the Australian Open and a three-set battle against a former top-35 player mark a rapid rise from ranked 580th in the world.
- Rybakina, a Grand Slam champion in her own right, represents the steepest possible first test — and Frodin is walking in with open eyes, not illusions.
- Somewhere beyond the match, Frodin holds a quieter hope: to finally meet Venus and Serena Williams in person, closing a circle that began in the rain on a film set.
Five years after portraying a young Serena Williams on screen, seventeen-year-old Thea Frodin steps onto the US Open main draw as herself — a wildcard who earned her place not through casting, but through competition. Her path from film set to Grand Slam court is a quiet meditation on identity: how deeply we can absorb our heroes, and the patient work required to find our own shape again. Facing world number two Elena Rybakina in her professional debut, Frodin carries with her both the weight of imitation and the freedom of having finally shed it.
Five years ago, Thea Frodin was twelve years old, standing in the rain on a film set beside Will Smith, playing young Serena Williams in the Oscar-nominated 'King Richard'. Smith kept her warm with hot water during the cold shoots. The work lasted six months and left a mark that went far deeper than the screen — Frodin's own tennis game began to reshape itself around her idol's movements, stroke by stroke.
Now seventeen, she has earned a wildcard into the US Open main draw by winning the USTA Girls' 18s National Championships — the same route Venus Williams once took. Her first-round opponent is Elena Rybakina, world number two and reigning Australian Open champion. It is a formidable beginning.
The transition from actress to professional player was not seamless. After filming wrapped, Frodin found she had absorbed Serena's backhand and stroke patterns so completely that coaches had to help her deliberately unlearn them. The irony was pointed: playing her hero had nearly erased her own game. She has since worked her way back to herself.
The results have followed. This year she reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open girls' singles, made her WTA qualifying debut in Miami, and pushed a former world number 35 to three sets in her first match against a top-100 player. She is ranked 580th in the world and speaks about the moment with a grounded clarity — eager for the noise, the crowd, the scale of it, but under no illusions about what Rybakina will bring.
What she has not yet done is meet Venus and Serena Williams in person. Both sisters are competing in doubles at this year's tournament, and Frodin has allowed herself a small, honest hope — that she might cross paths with the women she once portrayed, on the very courts where they made their names.
Five years ago, Thea Frodin was twelve years old and standing on a film set in the rain, hitting tennis balls alongside Will Smith. She had been cast as young Serena Williams in 'King Richard', the Oscar-nominated film about the Williams family. Smith, who played Richard Williams, the father of Serena and Venus, would bring hot water to keep her warm during the cold, wet shoots. It was work that lasted six months, a few days each week, and it left an impression so deep that Frodin's own game began to reshape itself around her idol's movements.
Now seventeen, Frodin is about to step onto the court at the US Open for the biggest match of her life—not as a stand-in, but as herself. She earned her wildcard into the main draw by winning the USTA Girls' 18s National Championships, the same path Venus Williams took years before. Her opponent on Tuesday will be Elena Rybakina, the world number two and reigning Australian Open champion. It is, by any measure, a formidable introduction to professional tennis.
The journey from film set to Grand Slam main draw has been neither simple nor straightforward. After her months of working with Smith, Frodin found herself unable to shake what she had learned. Her coaches grew frustrated watching her hit Serena's backhand, adopt Serena's stroke patterns, move like Serena. She had absorbed the role so completely that rediscovering her own natural style required deliberate work. "I picked up Serena's backhand, but I tried as much as possible to go back to my strokes," she told the US Open website. The irony was sharp: playing her hero had nearly erased her own game.
But Frodin has moved quickly since then. This year alone, she reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open girls' singles—her best result at a junior major. She made her WTA Tour qualifying debut as a wildcard in Miami and pushed Viktorija Golubic, a former world number 35, to three sets in her first match against a top-100 player. She is ranked 580th in the world. She is seventeen. And now she is here.
When Frodin speaks about the moment, she sounds grounded and aware of what she is walking into. "I'm trying to stay in the moment as much as possible," she said. "This is a huge opportunity for me to enjoy the moment, have fun and see what I can do." She has thought about the atmosphere, the noise of the crowd, the scale of it all. "The atmosphere, how loud the crowd will be, I feel like I fit well in that environment," she said. She knows Rybakina is world number two for a reason. She expects a battle.
What Frodin has not yet done is meet Serena and Venus Williams in person. Both sisters are competing at this year's US Open—in doubles together—and Frodin has allowed herself to hope. "Hopefully, if I get a chance to hit with them or just meet them, anything, I'll take it," she said. "That would be incredible. That would be a dream." It is a small thing to ask, and it speaks to something true about her: she is still the person who once stood in the rain on a film set, watching her hero through the lens of a camera. Now she gets to be herself on the same courts where that hero made her name.
Citazioni salienti
Being able to play the role of somebody that I looked up to for my whole life was super special. She was one of the players that I looked up to most, just when I was starting to play.— Thea Frodin, on her role in 'King Richard'
After I was done shooting, I got used to her strokes. My coaches were a bit frustrated because I naturally started to hit like her.— Thea Frodin, on how the film work affected her playing style
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