Thea Frodin: From Body Double to US Open Debut

Thea Frodin spent her childhood copying Serena Williams’ strokes for the cameras. Now she is walking into Serena’s house for real.

Five years ago, at just 12, Frodin was hired as the tennis-playing body double for the young Serena in the Oscar-nominated film King Richard. While the actress carried the lines, Frodin carried the racket, stepping into the shoes of her idol on court as Will Smith brought Richard Williams to life beside her.

"Being able to play the role of somebody that I looked up to for my whole life was super special," she 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 days on set were not a one-off cameo. For six months, several days a week, the then pre-teen Frodin reported to work with a Hollywood A-lister, hitting balls in cold, wet conditions as the crew tried to recreate the raw beginnings of one of sport’s greatest careers. Smith, she remembers, always turned up with hot water to keep her warm during those long, rainy shoots.

From Body Double to Main Draw

This week, Frodin will make her main-draw singles debut at her home Grand Slam, the US Open, on the same stage where Serena and Venus Williams will reunite in doubles. Once she mimicked Serena’s game for a movie. Now she steps into the real thing, ranked 580th in the world and thrown straight into the deep end.

Her first-round opponent? World number two Elena Rybakina, a two-time major champion and reigning Australian Open winner. No gentle introduction. No soft landing.

"I'm trying to stay in the moment as much as possible," Frodin 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."

It is a teenager’s dream and a brutal test rolled into one: a home Slam debut against one of the game’s most ruthless ball-strikers, under the lights and noise of New York.

Learning to Stop Being Serena

For a while, Frodin didn’t just admire Serena Williams. She became her, technically speaking.

The demands of King Richard meant hours of studying Serena’s mechanics, copying the take-back, the explosive contact, the signature backhand that helped deliver 23 major singles titles. The mimicry worked so well that when filming wrapped, there was a problem.

"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."

It is a revealing detail. Before she could chase her own career, Frodin had to unlearn one of the greatest of all time. The muscle memory of a legend had to give way to the instincts of a teenager trying to find her own identity on tour.

Now that journey brings her back to Flushing Meadows, to the tournament Serena turned into a personal stage and cultural landmark. Frodin will walk into that noise, not as a stand-in, not as a silhouette in someone else’s story, but under her own name on the scoreboard.

The cameras will still be there. This time, though, there is no director, no second take, no choreographed rally. Just a young player, a childhood idol’s arena, and one of the toughest draws in tennis.

What more fitting place to find out who she really is?