Inside Tecnifibre's ART x Tennis Capsule Collection

Tecnifibre has paired Reilly Opelka with gallerist Tim Van Laere and two contemporary artists for a limited-run capsule called ART x Tennis. The collection covers a performance racquet (a riff on the model Opelka endorses), two bags, and a pair of dampener sets, and it comes with a story about how one of the tour's most dedicated art collectors ended up designing gear alongside the people who make it.

Opelka Collects Art as PASSIONATELY as he plays tennis 

Opelka is a genuine art enthusiast, the kind of player who visits art galleries throughout his tournament travel. That habit is not new or manufactured for this launch. It is simply how Opelka spends his time off, and it is what put him in a position to know Tim Van Laere in the first place, not as a sponsor connection but as someone who shares his interests.

Van Laere runs galleries in Antwerp, Belgium, and Rome, Italy, and is as devoted to tennis as Opelka is to contemporary art. The friendship between the two of them is what turned into ART x Tennis: a Tecnifibre capsule that treats a racquet and a tennis bag with the same intent as a piece hanging on a gallery wall, influenced by a player who was already living in that world before Tecnifibre got involved.

Two Artists Who Play the Game

Van Laere brought in two artists from his own gallery roster who happen to be committed tennis fans: Rinus Van de Velde and Friedrich Kunath. Van de Velde's contribution includes original artwork and handwritten-style lettering that appears across the collection's racquet and bag graphics. Kunath's work shows up in the collection's quotes and visual language. Between the two of them, a standard set of tennis gear becomes something closer to a small, limited print run, and Opelka's own eye for art is what pulled both of them into the project.

The Racquet: TF-40 305 16M AxT

TF-40 305 16M AxT

$349.00

The racquet at the center of the collection is the TF-40 305 16M AxT. It's built on the same platform as Tecnifibre's standard TF40 305 16M, an advanced-level frame with a 16x19 string pattern, a 21.7-millimeter beam, and a medium flex tuned for players who want control over their fast swings. The AxT edition wraps the frame and butt cap in the collection's artwork in place of Tecnifibre's usual graphics, so it plays like a TF40 305 while doubling as a piece of the capsule's art direction.

Opelka strings his racquet with Tecnifibre's Black Code, a co-polyester string with a pentagonal profile built for spin and tension maintenance. It's a fitting pairing for the AxT frame, since Black Code is the same family of string Tecnifibre built its reputation on for control-minded players who hit through the ball.

The Bags: Tour Endurance AxT

The collection includes two bags built around the same artwork as the racquet. The Tour Endurance AxT 12R, priced at $169, holds three racquets and adds a dedicated shoe pocket and an inside accessory pocket, all built from full tarpaulin material for durability. The Tour Endurance AxT Duffel, priced at $119, trades racquet-carrying capacity for one central compartment, two side zipped pockets, a shoe pocket, and an inside net pocket, making it the better pick for players who want one travel bag rather than a racquet-first setup.

Tour Endurance AxT 12R

Tour Endurance AxT 12R

Tour Endurance AxT 12R

Tour Endurance AxT Duffel

The Dampeners

Rounding out the collection are two vibration dampeners, each priced at $9.95 and carrying the collection's artwork in place of Tecnifibre's standard logo design.

AxT Icon Dampener

$9.95

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AxT Dampener

$9.95

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The Full Lineup