Thea Frodin: From Serena Williams' Double to US Open Debut

Thea Frodin used to pretend to be Serena Williams for the cameras. Now she’s about to walk into Serena’s house as herself.

Five years ago, Frodin was 12, a promising junior with a powerful game and a dream. Hollywood came calling. She was picked as the tennis-playing body double for the young Serena in the Oscar-nominated film King Richard, hitting balls on set while Will Smith brought Richard Williams to life.

It meant long days on court under the lights, a child standing in for a legend.

“Being able to play the role of somebody that I looked up to for my whole life was super special,” Frodin told the WTA website. “I was honoured. She was one of the players that I looked up to most, just when I was starting to play. She’s such an inspiration to me.”

Those scenes were filmed over six months, a few days a week, with Frodin braving cold, wet conditions as the production chased the right shot. Smith, already a Hollywood heavyweight, made sure his young co-star could handle the weather, regularly arriving on set with hot water to keep her warm between takes.

The experience left a mark in more ways than one. Frodin didn’t just copy Serena’s footwork and body language. She absorbed her game.

“After I was done shooting, I got used to her strokes,” she told the US Open website. “My coaches were a bit frustrated because I naturally started to hit like her. I picked up Serena’s backhand, but I tried as much as possible to go back to my strokes.”

Now the girl who once mimicked Serena’s swing steps into the real thing: the main draw of the US Open.

Ranked 580 in the world, Frodin will make her Grand Slam singles debut on home soil, in the same tournament where Serena and Venus Williams will reunite in doubles. The symbolism is impossible to miss. The kid who once played Serena on screen now walks into the same arena where the Williams sisters built an empire.

The draw did her no favours. Her first opponent: world number two Elena Rybakina, a two-time major champion and the reigning Australian Open winner. It is the kind of assignment that can overwhelm a teenager before she even hits a ball.

Frodin sounds determined not to let it.

“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. The atmosphere, how loud the crowd will be, I feel like I fit well in that environment.”

That’s the challenge now. Not pretending to be Serena Williams. Not copying her backhand or her aura. But walking into a packed stadium in New York, with a Grand Slam champion across the net, and finding out who Thea Frodin really is.