Across the six players on the tennis court at noon on a Friday in Beverly Hills, I clock two Cartier watches and one Rolex. There’s tennis skirts paired with chunky cable-knit sweaters and white sneakers and tote bags with collegiate embroidery. From behind sunglasses and baseball caps, members appear to be in their mid-twenties to early thirties. But no matter how much the scene may resemble a legacy country club at first glance, this meetup exists almost in opposition to the city’s handful of expensive clubs with yearslong wait-lists and lengthy membership requirements.

This is Sunset Tennis Club, a membership-based tennis club that operates on a series of courts in upscale neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Founded in early 2023 by Anna and Kacper Owsian, the organization thinks of itself as a “floating tennis club,” said Anna, only without the barriers to entry that keep out many millennials and zoomers.

Once a couple, now business partners, Anna and Kacper immigrated to Los Angeles from Poland in late 2022. The pair met over a decade ago playing tennis in the city of Poznań, where Kacper, a former tennis pro, followed in his family’s footsteps coaching at a tennis club and Anna, who plays for fun, worked in the fashion and wellness industries. When the two moved to Los Angeles, they, like many recent transplants, struggled to find community. They used their mutual love of tennis as a way to make friends, setting a once-a-week date to play, followed by nights out for dinner and drinks. From there, the idea to start the club as a business was born.

Living in affluent Brentwood at the time, they were inspired by the aesthetics of country club life, even if they were unable to actually participate. Anna wanted to lend her experience in fashion to branding a tennis club that was “more than just a place to play, but the sport we love, reimagined for the new generation.” Kacper could teach. The first official Sunset Tennis Club started once a week in Beverly Hills, attended by a small group of friends of friends.

Sunset Tennis Club sells one-off clinics, or small group lessons separated by level. Kacper still teaches, but they also employ a handful of coaches. Despite its lack of a single brick-and-mortar location, the club runs on a membership model. Anyone who can afford to invest a few hundred dollars in their game is welcome to join instantly via the brand’s website. Membership is tiered, based on how often one wants to participate in clinics. Four beginner clinics a month runs $200, while attending 12 ranges from $480-540 depending on the member’s experience level. Add-on private lessons are available.

The club plays across six locations — including Beverly Hills, Hancock Park, and Brentwood — all of which are on private properties, accessed through the founders’ personal relationships.

Sunset Tennis Club has arrived in L.A. at a moment where racket sports are surging in popularity. According to a 2024 study by RacquetX, a conference for racket sport professionals, the category — which includes tennis, pickleball, squash, badminton and table tennis — has grown 30% since 2021. Tennis players in the U.S. jumped from 1.9 million players to 25.7 million players in 2024, its fifth consecutive year of growth according to the United States Tennis Association. The founders say that thus far in 2025, Sunset Tennis Club has hosted 1,000 players across its 25 weekly clinics and rotating events monthly.

Anna and Kacper Owsian host a Tennis Clinic in Beverly Hills.

(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)

Its growing membership may have as much to do with the sport of tennis as it does the fashion associated with it. Amanda Greeley, owner of racket sports fashion brand Spence, argues tennis’ increased popularity is a result of the photogenic nature, but also society’s desire for connection.

“Tennis looks good on Instagram, but I also believe it taps into something deeper: Tennis is social. In a world where so much fitness has become solitary — spin bikes, boot camps, apps — tennis offers real, in-person connection. It’s active and communal.”

Even if anyone can join Sunset Tennis Clubs, that doesn’t mean their events are entirely devoid of the old-money swagger often spotted on L.A. tennis courts. The organization operates “in the in between public courts and country clubs … something that’s approachable for people but at the same time a little bit more exclusive and more unique,” said Anna.

Anna Owsian at her Tennis Clinic

(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)

Outside of access to private courts, the feeling of exclusivity comes from the Sunset Tennis Club’s branding and membership, which tends to share an affinity for crisp tennis whites and beautiful watches. Sunset Tennis Club’s Instagram feed resembles that of a fashion brand. Influencers like Song of Style’s Aimee Song and Kardashian makeup artist Mary Phillips are known to frequent clinics. Beyond tennis lessons, membership includes access to social events that range from watch parties at boutique hotels to invites to private boxes at tennis tournaments. Recently, the club partnered with the apparel company FILA to gift members a tennis outfit and an invite to their private box suite at the high-profile BNP Paribas Open in the La Quinta desert, providing members with otherwise everyday lives a taste of the L.A. influencer life. Chelsea Ma, a 28-year-old producer who discovered Sunset Tennis Club through an Instagram ad, attends a clinic with the group once a week. She says she’s also made close friends through the club, some of whom she’s traveled with.

“I was already playing tennis once or twice a week, but I knew I wanted to get better,” Ma said. “It was difficult to find friends who wanted to play tennis on a regular basis [before joining] … The club is one of a kind. It taps into a lifestyle their members already live by but through the foundation of tennis.”

Much like your typical country club, there is a dress code at Sunset Tennis Club clinics: Tennis whites or all-black attire is required. At most courts, the group’s logo is displayed on nets and can be seen in the background of members’ carefully posed Instagram photos on the court. On the Friday that I visited in Beverly Hills, house music by Rufus du Sol played softly from a speaker as we practiced drills. Even with all those small details, the experience wasn’t exactly the Ritz. Members parked on the street, bathroom access varied court by court and there was no spot to grab a cobb salad afterwards. But aesthetically and tonally, whiffs of affluence are in reach for those who want a taste.