Known as the world’s No. 1 tennis influencer, Rachel Stuhlmann has pivoted her love of the sport into a career as a multimedia maven.While many outlets have labeled her the “Paige Spiranac of tennis,” the 32-year-old St. Louis native is making a name for herself while creating a personal brand that’s authentic to its core.
Stuhlmannfirst picked up a tennis racket in kindergarten and has never looked back. After being ranked among the Top 100 nationally in high school, the highly-recruited athlete chose to attend the University of Missouri over schools like LSU, Colorado, Texas Tech and Penn State, where she went 8-3 in Big 12 matches during her freshman season.
We recently caught up with theUSPTA certified professional tennis coach to learn all about her love of the game and how she’s working to make the sport more mainstream.
While atMizzou,Stuhlmannwent 12-19 in her final collegiate season of singles play in 2013-14. After deciding not to go the professional tennis route,Stuhlmann accepted a coaching job at a country club in Sun Valley, Idaho, at the age of 22. It was then that she realized she still wanted to be involved in professional tennis, just in a different capacity.
Stuhlmann hired a web designer and began writing articles about fashion in the sport and stories following her friends on tour. She says opportunities came rolling in from there, including sports talk radio jobs, digital media hosting gigs and professional tournament hosting duties.
“I wanted to start sharing that with my followers,”Stuhlmann says of her 317,000 Instagram fans and 59,200 admirers on TikTok. “So, I just started kind of posting along the way and sharing informational things about the sport and that’s how I really started to use my brand.”
Whether she’s at the US Open or channeling the trendy Barbiecore aesthetic on the court,Stuhlmann is known for showing off her personal sense of style. The 32-year-old says that it was when she started being authentically herself that her brand really began to flourish.
“I really want to be myself in this industry,” she admits. “I’m going to post what I want, I’m going to wear what I want. Whatever I wear does not change my knowledge of the sport, [or the fact] that I can strategically talk about the sport, that I can play the sport really well. So [when I started] posting in my own style, that’s when my brand really took off, when I just really started being authentically myself.”
Making tennis more accessible
Stuhlmann’s multifaceted approach as a tennis content creator has one major objective in mind: drawing more attention to the sport she loves so much.
“My goal in tennis has always been to make the sport more mainstream, relatable and accessible,”Stuhlmann says. “I want to bring attention to this sport in a positive way, draw people to the sport and get people excited about it.”
She is grateful to the fans and followers who have welcomed her into the content creation space with open arms. The best part of her job, she shares, is hearing from individuals who have picked up the sport due to her influence.
“I’ve gotten a lot of messages saying, ‘I just picked up tennis. I was inspired by you,’ and that’s like my favorite thing ever to hear,” Stuhlmann notes. “Or, ‘I’m watching the US Open, I’m watching this tournament, I had no idea tennis was this cool.’ That’s kind of what, for me, is just very fulfilling.”
Her advice for those looking to pick up the sport recreationally is quite simple: “Get some tennis shoes, get a ball and get out there,” she suggests. “Just see that it’s not scary, and then you can contact your local club or look up some pros and take a lesson.”
Most importantly,Stuhlmann says to simply have fun. There are countless resources, like country clubs and her own soon-to-come instructional content, that are great entryways for beginners.
“Tennis can get frustrating sometimes if you’re just beginning or having an off day, but if you focus on the bigger picture things like getting in shape while you’re playing or setting small, achievable goals, you can turn the practice or match around,” she shares.
Stuhlmann counts tennis greats like Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams as major inspirations. While she calls Nadal “the definition of class,” she praises the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion for not only her skills on the court, but for introducing such great style to the sport.
“Out of every single player, I [always] loved her style the most,” Stuhlmann says of Williams. “She brought fashion to the court and she always had my favorite outfits by far.”
She’s well aware of the comparison many people often draw between her and Spiranac, but Stuhlmann deems the correlation an honor, rather than a competition. She admires the work the 30-year-old has done for the sport of golf and hopes to have a similar influence in the world of tennis.
“It’s a scary thing being in such a conservative sport and wearing a V-cut shirt or a crop top and Paige Spiranac has always been someone that I’ve looked up to,” Stuhlmann shares. “There’s really no playbook for what I do in tennis. No one else has this kind of position in the sport like I do, but if I was to say there’s someone that I admire or look to, it would be Paige because she’s been so impactful within the sport of golf. I’m trying to make a very similar impact in tennis.”
Looking ahead
While Stuhlmann already has an incredibly impressiverésumé, there’s still so much more she hopes to accomplish. She’s currently working on a book and is looking forward to expanding her broadcasting and commentating skills on the courts.In the long-term, she hopes to bring a tennis tournament to her home city in Missouri.
As thankful as she is to her supporters, Stuhlmann says she’s also grateful for those who bullied her early on in her career due to her appearance and sense of style. It’s that adversity, she says, that pushed her to commit to being unapologetically herself.
“At the end of the day, I feel so blessed to have created this career for myself and am very thankful for all of the opportunities that the sport that I love so much has given me,” Stuhlmann says. “I’m also extremely excited for all that’s ahead.”
