Every January comes, and scores of people resolve to finally start using their gym memberships, to learn Italian for that summer dream trip, to pick up knitting so they can make everybody’s holiday gifts next year, or to cut back on their favorite food.

But why? That all sounds like nothing more than self-inflicted punishment. And the overwhelming majority of resolutions are ditched before January is even up anyway. Here at Court Theory, we’re focused on happiness and love of tennis for the upcoming year. So, here are some New Year’s tennis resolutions designed to bring you joy, style, and achievement on the court and beyond for 2026.

You don’t have to travel all the way to the Australian Open — or even Indian Wells or the Miami Open — to have a great time (although it certainly doesn’t hurt). There’s an incredible amount of tennis we don’t even think about that’s just a car or train ride away.

Check out a nearby ATP Challenger event or a WTA 125 tournament — often for free! An entire level of pro tennis that many people don’t even know about awaits fans like you; the International Tennis Federation hosts hundreds of men’s and women’s events every single year (again, mostly for free). They’re filled with incredible up-and-comers, solid players on the comeback trail, and they’re held in smaller cities that the main tour doesn’t reach. And, if those aren’t an option, think about high school, college, and USTA team tennis in and around your town.

Get outside. Meet new people. Cheer for the underdog. It will build your tennis community and do your tennis soul some good.

If you’re still recovering from your favorite player’s recent retirement, this might sound harsh — but it’s time to move on. Listen, we know how hard it is. There are still people struggling to get over all of Bjorn Borg’s retirements. But tennis is meant to be enjoyed. And what better way to convert that melancholy emptiness into new season excitement than by finding a new player to cheer on in 2026?

(Note: This advice serves double duty because your current active favorite is, with this unbearable schedule, almost certainly going to be on an injury timeout at some point in the year.)

If you’re in the market for recommendations of players who might not be on your radar, try on for size 20-year-old Alexander Blockx, the massive ball-striker from Belgium, who just reached the finals of the ATP Next Gen Finals, losing to American Learner Tien. Consider Emiliana Arango of Colombia, who, at 25 years old, reached a career-high ranking in the top 50 at the end of 2025. Her game is full of surprises and beauty, and her tennis spirit is both fire and ice with a heavy dose of good sportsmanship and cheer.

And what happens if your new pick doesn’t size up to your recent retiree? That’s okay. They can’t possibly fill that void. But you can still enjoy the newcomers and get a fresh outlook on a post-[insert retiree’s name] tennis life.

Going tennis clothes shopping can be a bit of a downer. Too many of the top brands are sleeping on tennis, serving up ill-fitting, generic looks that could have been made by any other company.

That’s why it’s time to pull up looks from the past! Find the fit you remember most fondly when you picked up tennis. Or get the warm-up suit of your all-time favorite player. Are you in the market for a Serena Williams Wimbledon dress? Check out Poshmark. Maybe you want need pieces from the Ivan Lendl Adidas argyle line. It’s time to place some bids on eBay.

All of this will help you love your tennis closet a little more in 2026, do some good for the environment, and almost certainly spark a conversation with tennis fans who share the same affinity for your favorites.

In case you were wondering, we here at Court Theory HQ resolve to scour the internet for more vintage Ellesse sweater vests.

Without a doubt, you’ll love tennis a little more this year if you spend some quality time with a few of the best tennis books that have ever been put in print. In 2026, here at Court Theory HQ we resolve to (re)read more tennis biographies and memoirs. At the top of the list are Althea: The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson by Sally H. Jacobs, The Circuit by Rowan Ricardo Phillips, and Levels of The Game (a non-memoir) by John McPhee.

You may have read the memoirs or biographies of your favorite players, but have you ever read similar works of their rivals? Whew, that can give you some perspective on your faves. If you’re interested in a duel, try Hana by Hana Mandlikova and Passing Shots by Pam Shriver. Or go with A Champion’s Mind by Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi’s Open.

It’s a lesson we should have learned long ago. But in a world where quick reactions on social media are rewarded with attention, we’ve become ever faster and harsher with our criticism of pro tennis players.

Let us remember they are real human beings with real feelings and real struggles. Let us remember the damage that thunderous booing did to Naomi Osaka for simply having won her first major, the scarlet letter Vika Azarenka was forced to wear for a decade when she suffered a panic attack during the 2013 Australian Open, and the real reason Nick Kyrgios wore a compression sleeve on his right arm.

Without a doubt, there are actors and actions deserving of our criticism. Let’s just make sure our words are fitting for the offense. Doing so isn’t just for them. It’s for us, too.

In previous years, you may have resolved to build up a weak backhand or to finally get out of your comfort zone on the baseline and into the net. But in a sport that is incredibly difficult to master, forget all of that and go all-in to make your weapons even bigger in 2026.

Are you on the cusp of becoming a servebot? Make it a reality! Do you already absolutely blister forehand down-the-line winners? Why not add in an inside-out forehand, too? Do you have the hands of a surgeon? More drop shots!

There’s no doubt you already get great satisfaction from executing your favorite shots perfectly, so make them even more unbeatable by improving them a little more. As for the shots that are dragging you down, don’t dwell on them — just let them be more of a long-term project.