One of the reasons why people love tennis is because it’s a game full of traditions, like only wearing white at Wimbledon. While some people appreciate this, there is an argument to be made that tennis has been lagging behind other sports in terms of innovation – like basketball or football.
Every now and then, a new tennis platform comes out with the goal of modernizing the sport and making it more exciting. Some work, some don’t. The most recent platform to come out is TopCourt, an online platform that contains well-produced videos with top players (Fernando Verdasco, the Bryan Brothers, Sloane Stephens, and more), in which the players talk about things like their backgrounds, their favorite drills, and some of their favorite stories. People are still a little skeptical about TopCourt’s proposition, so today we’ll shine a little light on it.
After conducting our review of TopCourt, it is clear that TopCourt is a very unique platform that provides a specific value to tennis fans. TopCourt should be purchased as an entertainment tool for fans wanting to learn more about their favorite players rather than as an online coaching tool.
That is not to say that people won’t be able to learn valuable tips from it – we just want to be clear that this tool is not going to be a great fit for everyone, and we want you to be informed before you make such a purchase. We’ll cover everything in detail below, and if by any chance you want to take a “test-drive” of the platform before buying it, you can use our link at the end of the post for a 14-day free trial.
TopCourt History
TopCourt was created by 3 former collegiate tennis players at UNC-Chapel Hill: Zach Hunter, Taylor Meyer, Alex Rafiee. They realized that there was a large “bridge” between professional tennis players and their fans, and that there were not platforms out there attempting to shorten that bridge.
After founding TopCourt, they secured $1.25M in venture capital from a few investors, which allowed them to launch the platform in June of 2020. Since launching, TopCourt has released videos from several top players, and has also partnered with several brand ambassadors across the world.
According to TopCourt, the brand is “the first digital platform offering tennis fans an authentic look into the life, mind, and performance of the game’s best players.”
TopCourt’s mission is “to share the lives of tennis pros with the world to inspire and grow the tennis community.”
What Type Of Content Does TopCourt Have?
One of TopCourt’s pros is that their video quality is unmatched. They only have professionally produced videos, similar to something you would find on Netflix. They have a professional camera crew with them every time a player comes in for a shooting at one of TopCourt’s two venues.
Some people may find these videos hard to relate to, as they might seem too “produced” and don’t seem applicable to the average tennis player. This is one of the reasons why we believe this is more of an entertainment platform rather than a teaching tool.
TopCourt’s platform is very user-friendly and simple to use. There aren’t that many functionalities in their website, so it’s hard to feel lost. The videos are tagged as either Stories, Drills, Instruction, or Behind The Scenes, (as you can see in the image above) so you can choose which category you’d want to see.
When it comes to the player’s story, the videos are structured in a mini-season way – with short episodes that highlight a specific aspect of the story.
When it comes to drills and instructions, the videos are somewhat random. Each player talks a bit about their own favorite drill and instruction, but there’s not much structure to it. This is done with the professional athlete in mind rather than the average club player, which is why we think there are better online tennis coaching tools out there.
You do have the ability to select the videos based on specific shots (forehand, backhand, serve, etc), but they don’t follow any specific progression.
Athletes On TopCourt
TopCourt releases videos with one new player every month, so you know exactly how much new content you will be getting. While this list will keep increasing (you can check the current list here), these are some of the athletes that you will find on TopCourt:
- Genie Bouchard
- Fernando Verdasco
- Lindsay Davenport
- Bryan Brothers
- Taylor Fritz
- Belinda Bencic
- Sloane Stephens
- Monica Puig
- Alja Tomljanovic
- Brad Gilbert
- Paul Annacone
Players With Videos Coming Up:
- Mackenzie McDonald
- Petra Kvitova
- Andrey Rublev
- Sofia Kenin
- Elina Svitolina
- Reilly Opelka
- Aryna Sabalenka
- Casper Ruud
- Sam Querrey
- Jelena Ostapenko
- Tommy Paul
- Corentin Moutet
- Iga Swiatek
- Caty McNally
- Katie Boultier
TopCourt Gold Courts
TopCourt also has a “rewards” program which they call gold courts. These gold court points are earned every time a user completes a milestone – like creating a profile, referring another user, or selecting a favorite player. Gold court points can also be purchased – 1 gold court costs $1.99 while 135 cold courts cost $69.99.
These gold court points can be redeemed in exchange for different prizes. Currently, the only ways to use gold courts are to purchase a tennis ball signed by a player (75 gold courts per ball) and to enter a contest to visit a TopCourt shooting (1 gold court per entry, with a maximum of 10 per user).
TopCourt Pricing
TopCourt sells memberships for two different tiers – basic and gold. The Basic version costs $180 per year (billed annually) and has access to all of the videos, allows users to redeem gold court points, and allows users to ask questions to players. The gold version costs $600 per year (also billed annually) and gives users the following additional perks:
- Access to video content earlier
- Opportunities to win trips to our filming shoots and hit with the players
- Opportunities to win trips to Grand Slams and other wta/atp tournaments
- Opportunities to ask pros questions directly
| Feature | Basic Version | Gold Version |
| Price | $180 / year | $600 / year |
| Access to All Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Redeem Gold Court Points | Yes | Yes |
| Ask Questions To Pros | Yes | Yes |
| Early Access to Videos | No | Yes |
| Opportunities to Win Trips to Filming Shoots and Hit With Players | No | Yes |
| Opportunities To Win Trips To Tournaments | No | Yes |
| Opportunities To Ask Questions To Pros Directly | No | Yes |
TopCourt Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| – Unmatched video quality – Access to behind-the-scenes stories and content that is not otherwise accessible – Deeper understanding of how tennis players think – Basic membership cost is reasonable – Small perks that can be “purchased” with gold courts – Chances of visiting a video shoot | – Gold membership is very expensive – Limited amount of content – Lack of structure when it comes to instructions – Instructions are more applicable to advanced players, while beginners will most likely not relate much – Limited ways to redeem gold courts |
Who Is TopCourt For?
TopCourt is a great platform for tennis “superfans.” If you’re interested in getting to know your favorite player on a deeper level, this can be a great tool for you. Tennis players live very private lives, and it’s hard to learn about them in a deeper way than just watching them on court.
TopCourt is not for the beginner tennis player who is looking for a way to fast-track their progress. The instructional content (even though it’s nice) lacks in structure and can be overwhelming for someone who is just starting out.
TopCourt Promo Code (14-Day Free Trial)
If you’re interested in trying TopCourt but still don’t feel ready to pay for it, you can use this link to get a 14-day free trial with full access. You’ll be prompted to give your credit card information, but you will be able to cancel it at any time during those 14 days without being charged. (Full disclosure: if you do use our link and end up purchasing it, we’ll get a portion of it – with no additional cost to you.)