Inside Pro Shop NYC, the Buzzy Tennis Concept Store Prepping for the US Open
SportsVerse sat down with Vicente Munoz, an archivist of tennis culture and its evolving visual identity.
Welcome back to SportsVerse, my twice-weekly newsletter that tells stories you can't find anywhere else about the intersection of sports, fashion, business, and culture. SportsVerse turned 8 months old this week and passed 4,000 subscribers! Thank you all for being here.
As anyone who knows me will know, I love tennis and will find any excuse to write about, watch or play it. Today’s newsletter is the first of several profiles I’ll be publishing on the innovative people and brands at the intersection of tennis culture and style, throughout the US Open and beyond. If you have any suggestions for profile candidates I may not have considered, drop me a line.
Tennis is thriving. All of a sudden, everyone wants to cash in on the culture.
While the sport’s aesthetic has always been coveted in some ways by luxury brands, from fashion houses to watchmakers, brands of all kinds are now piling in to get a piece of the action.
Jewellery brands like Mejuri are working with players and partnering with tennis magazines to align themselves with the sport, while major sportswear players like New Balance, On and Lululemon are investing millions in marketing, endorsement deals and product development as they eye the market share left up for grabs by incumbents like Nike and legacy tennis brands.
With the flurry of big-ticket brand activations and brand ambassador announcements that will no doubt crank up several notches as one of the most hyped editions of the US Open approaches, it’s often easy to miss the things that are shaping the culture of the sport (and its relationship with style) at the grassroots level, and the masterminds behind them.
One such mastermind is Vicente Munoz, an Ecuador-born New York City resident and lifelong tennis player. I caught up with Vicente last week to hear about his journey through tennis and to dig into his latest venture, a buzzy tennis-focused retail concept called Pro Shop NYC.
If you have followed Vicente for any time at all, or passed by his Instagram page, you will have come across a fascinating mix of beautiful visuals, stunning tennis court shots and architectural photography. Until we met, I had always wondered exactly what it was that he did and how it all fit in with his love for tennis. The story does not disappoint.
Shaped By Tennis
Ecuador is a small nation in comparison to many of its South American neighbours. But it’s a country that takes pride in punching above its weight in producing sports stars who make it on the global stage.
Growing up there, Munoz was pushed into tennis very early on by his parents, learning the fundamentals around nine years old. Despite taking it up at a young age, he never felt any natural love for the sport that would later come to define much of his adult life. His affinity for the game began to grow, however, as he increasingly became aware that his home country was producing top tennis talent, such as former world no.6 Nicolás Lapentti and former world no.4 Andrés Gómez, who won the French Open in 1990.
Things moved quickly from there. By 18, Munoz was ranked in the top 30 in Ecuador. He was later a walk-on at Penn State University, where he practised against top players like Kevin Anderson (who would later achieve a career-high ranking of world no.5).
Though he didn’t pursue a pro career, tennis has since remained a constant in Munoz’s way of life as he ventured down different avenues. After a stint in London, he moved to New York — his home now for 13 years — to study at the School of Visual Arts.
New York’s Buzzy New Tennis Retail Concept
It wasn’t until 2022, when, mid-yoga class, the epiphany came that would give rise to Pro Shop NYC.
In the years prior, Munoz — while working as a photographer and visual artist — had become increasingly involved in tennis culture, collecting tennis-related art and working with Racquet Magazine in its early days. He also became a collector of sorts, acquiring a collection of historic tennis artefacts which allude to his fascination with the sport’s visual identity.
Feeling frustrated with the limited job opportunities in tennis-related fields, he consulted a career coach who told him his tennis knowledge and level of playing experience was “his version of a Yale degree".
The yoga-induced epiphany allowed Munoz to identify a market opportunity. For tennis lovers, retail options are highly limited to: 1) high-street tennis offerings of sportswear giants like Wilson; 2) the offerings of technical brands like Babolat or Yonex; or 3) tennis “inspired” active and fashion wear. What was missing, and what Munoz resolved to fulfil with Pro Shop NYC, was a physical place for enthusiasts to shop and/or engage with items of tennis culture and heritage — something between a library, museum and concept store.
He launched the first Pro Shop iteration in spring at Caseta on Hester Street, followed by subsequent runs, most recently at a location in SoHo.
What makes Pro Shop NYC unique and appealing is its seamless blend of curation and commerce. There are several key pillars of the Pro Shop experience any consumer can engage with at a pop up, according to Munoz, with each designed to educate consumers about tennis equipment and celebrate the sport's history and design evolution:
Merchandising. On display you will find a mix of vintage and historical pieces, including rare items such as John McEnroe’s 1985 US Open final shirt. “You’ll also see pieces like a Nike shirt worn by Andre Agassi which is size medium but fits like a double XL, that he wore in the final of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta,” Munoz said. There are also rare replicas on display, such as the Nike shirt worn by Roger Federer during his first ever Wimbledon win. These are high value items and sales can be slow, but the collection also doubles as an archive for people to browse in the shop.
Literature. You will also find a rack of quirky and rare tennis literature, ranging from vintage Japanese tennis magazines to impactful tennis books both for sale and from Munoz’s archive.
Rackets. Visitors will be able to browse an equally rare and eclectic assortment of rackets, including those sourced from stringers trusted by professional players, and also rare rackets from old school brands like Snauwaert, which in the late 20th century had a deep impact on professional tennis and left a lasting impression on Munoz.
Stringing, Racket Tune-up Services and Consultations. This is the element which allows tennis players — both casual and more serious — to learn from the experts in Munoz’s orbit, getting their rackets restrung and also learning in greater detail about racket stringing and weight adjustments.
It’s safe to say Munoz is an archivist of tennis heritage and culture. He applies an artistic lens to tennis that truly benefits from his grounding as a high level player. "With my [ongoing project of photographing tennis courts], as someone who has played the sport at the highest level, I understand that there are things that I'm seeing in there that other people might not, you know. Even with [Pro Shop NYC], I would still like to continue to push this mission and seek out historic or visually unique courts. I would love to make a book of it one day."
Ahead of the US Open, Pro Shop NYC is in full swing with a range of different pop-ups and activations across New York, partnering with brands such as On and Yonex. Vicente gave us a rundown of where to find Pro Shop NYC over the next few weeks:
August 17, 2025 - Pro Shop Pop-Up at Fort Greene Park (with a special brand guest)
August 23, 2025 - Academy Day at Milstein Family Tennis Center Powered by On
“Together with Golden Ticket Tennis (Craig Shapiro), Pro Shop will host a full day of tennis activations powered by On. Hosted at the Milstein Family Tennis Center, upstairs will be a series of incredible tennis clinics hosted by Marc Lucero, Ashley Neaves and others. Downstairs we’ll be running a high pace prize-money Dingles Tournament, following in the success of last year's. It's a day of fun, athletic competition, and community.”
August 25, 2025 from 3-6pm - Pro Shop x Yonex
“Pro Shop will be popping up at 117 Wooster Street at the Yonex Show Room for an afternoon of racket stringing and gear demos.”
September 1-7, 2025 - Pro Shop Pop-Up at 345 West Broadway in Soho
“During the second week of US Open play, Pro Shop will pop up with a retail concept in partnership with a very special brand, details forthcoming...”
You can also follow along on the Pro Shop NYC Instagram page or website.
Thank you to Vicente for joining us to speak about his journey in tennis and for inviting us into the Pro Shop universe. If you’re in New York, be sure to head down to one of those events if you can.
That’s all for today, friends. Thanks for being here.
See you next time,
DYM