Thea Frodin, who was Serena Williams’ body double in ‘King Richard,’ loses in her US Open debut

NEW YORK (AP) — Thea Frodin once had to hit like Serena Williams in a movie. On Tuesday at the U.S. Open, she showed some pretty good power of her own in real life.

The 17-year-old from California lost to No. 2 Elena Rybakina 6-3, 6-2 while playing her first WTA Tour match in a Grand Slam tournament.

Frodin fired 11 aces, nearly doubling up one of the best servers in women’s tennis. She said her movie role in which she had to swing like Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, doesn’t mean she feels pressure to show extra pop off the racket.

“I feel I have always been an aggressive player. That’s always been kind of my game, just to be aggressive,” the 6-foot Frodin said. “Obviously my height gives me the chance to serve bigger.”

In the 2021 film “King Richard,” Frodin was the body double for actor Demi Singleton, who played the younger Williams sister. Frodin earned the opportunity to audition after winning singles, doubles and mixed doubles sectional titles at the 10-and-under level in California and then spent six months working on set.

Will Smith won an Oscar for his performance as Richard Williams, father to Serena and her sister, Venus. Frodin hasn’t met the sisters yet but said she noticed that Smith reposted one of her social media posts.

Frodin played her way into the U.S. Open by winning the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships to earn a wild card. She quickly gained more attention than that type of player usually gets because of her “King Richard” experience, but thought she handled that well.

“I mean, I think it’s hard to get away from all of that. It’s kind of just about accepting it and not letting it get to you,” Frodin said. “I feel like I did a good job of that.”

With fans in the Grandstand chanting her name, Frodin fired consecutive aces after facing match point trailing 5-1, then hit another to erase a third match point Rybakina had earned and eventually held serve. Rybakina finally finished the match on her fourth try by hitting her sixth ace.

Rybakina didn’t know much about Frodin the player, but said during their scouting her team became aware of her Williams’ role.

“I think that she has great shots, and especially serve,” Rybakina said. “She has this powerful game, which is I think great and it’s just a matter of experience, be more stable, playing matches. But she has the game. She can be quite dangerous with these kind of shots.”

Rybakina is guaranteed to take the No. 1 ranking from Aryna Sabalenka if she reaches the semifinals, or if the two-time defending champion doesn’t win the tournament.

Frodin said playing someone with Rybakina’s skills made it hard for her to show her normal aggressive style. Still in high school, she plans to return to junior tennis for now but hopes to have another chance at the top level.

“I think it was a fun experience to kind of see how the best players in the world, how they hit their balls and their shots,” Frodin said. “Hopefully the next time I meet her, if I do, I can be more experienced and see what I can do.”

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