From Serena's Body Double to US Open Debutant: Thea Frodin's Remarkable Arrival
Five years ago, Thea Frodin was 12 years old and playing tennis on screen as Serena Williams' body double in the Oscar-nominated film King Richard. This week, aged 17, she steps onto a real Grand Slam court for the first time — at the US Open, her home major, with a wild card entry into the main draw. (BBC Sport, USOpen.org)
A wild card, for those new to the term, is a discretionary invitation that grants a player entry into a tournament's main draw without having to qualify through ranking. Frodin earned hers on the back of a strong juniors career, capped by a run to the girls' singles semifinals. (USOpen.org)
The numbers underline how early she is in her professional journey. Her highest singles ranking sits at 580, with career prize money of $16,269. (USOpen.org) Those figures will look very different if she makes the most of this week.
Frodin has already won her opening match at the 2026 US Open, shaking off nerves to advance, according to the Associated Press. (Yahoo Sports) The draw, though, has served up a stern second test: she is drawn against world number two Elena Rybakina, a two-time major winner and the reigning Australian Open champion. (BBC Sport)
The Hollywood connection is irresistible, but the deeper story is about a Southern California teenager who used the film set as a stepping stone, not a destination. On the King Richard shoot, Frodin worked alongside Will Smith, who portrayed Richard Williams, the father who shaped Serena and Venus into champions. She was there to replicate Serena's technique for the camera. Now she is building her own game for real.
She is not the only storyline at Flushing Meadows this fortnight. Two-time US Open champion Venus Williams, aged 46, received a wild card into the tournament she has won twice. (BBC Sport) On the men's side, Carlos Alcaraz began his campaign against Safiullin. (BBC Sport)
But Frodin's path carries a particular symmetry. She once stood in for the greatest player of her era. Now she plays as herself, on the same grounds where Serena Williams won six of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles.
A first-round win at a Grand Slam is no small thing for a player ranked outside the top 500. Whether she can trouble Rybakina is another question entirely. Rybakina's serve alone is one of the most feared weapons in the women's game, and Grand Slam debuts have a way of exposing every gap in a young player's armour.
Still, Frodin has already lived one version of this dream — on a film set, pretending. The real thing starts now.
