Ayan Bloomfield creates tennis-led business brand

When Ayan Bloomfield hoisted the NCAA doubles national championship trophy while attending UCLA in 2019, she never expected how her relationship with tennis would change.

Things have changed dramatically.

Bloomfield grew up playing junior tennis, competing and touring while playing for Canada. The Toronto native went on to UCLA, where her tournament career only got more exciting. Then it all fell apart and tennis seemed over for her. Now she’s back on tour, this time as the longtime girlfriend of American player Frances Tiafoe, building her own tennis-based business brand as a model, serving as a body double in the hit film “King Richard,” and creating content for major brands focused on tennis fashion and travel.

Now the 26-year-old is back on the court, having signed a contract to play in the pro-am division of the Voss Open in Stuttgart, Germany, and will be producing content for Voss about her experiences.

“The thing about tennis is you never lose it,” she said of the chance to step onto grass courts again. “The timing might be a little bit off, but I’m going to start working hard again. I’m trying to make content about training, which is fun. I’m not at the same level as before, but I didn’t think it would happen.”

Bloomfield’s tennis career peaked when she won the title at UCLA. “Winning the title was everything,” she recalls. “Then COVID hit and everything went haywire. I moved to Florida and was training a lot. I was having injury after injury and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to play on the court full time.”

Soon the doubts began to grow.

The turning point came before the release of “King Richard.” While playing in a Futures tournament in Africa, she got a call about a film role. “I was so focused on getting these things done. [rankings] “I knew that instead of winning points, I needed to be in movies,” she said. “That was one of the big things that changed my life and made me realize that I could make it in entertainment through tennis. To be on set with Will Smith was an incredible feeling.”

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The experience changed her relationship with tennis. Now she’s involved in the sport, creating content, working with brands and supporting her foundation. “I’m involved in all things tennis, even though I’m not on the court competing 24/7,” she says. “I still love the sport and have been playing tennis for over 20 years. With the explosion of social media, players can now make 10 times more off the court than they could on it, and I get to blend the two together.”

Though she’s not busy competing, she knows years of training don’t just translate to playing professionally. “When you get into this sport, there are so many opportunities that come your way,” she says. “Not just one of the 50 girls making money on the WTA Tour, but you can use this sport to take on so many adventures in life. You can get scholarships, you can be a model, you can create content. You can get that with tennis. That was a lesson for me, and for anyone who wants to get into the sport, that even if you don’t make it to the highest level, it’s not so bad.”

Bloomfield’s tennis business wasn’t set in stone after the film was released. Things started to move quickly when she went to Wimbledon with Tiafoe in 2022. She had never toured with Tiafoe before, but she made the trip to London. Tiafoe made it to the round of 16. She then accompanied Bloomfield to New York later that year, where he reached the semifinals at the US Open. Tiafoe didn’t want to travel without her. Going on tour with Tiafoe opened the door for Bloomfield to create content specific to specific locations and brand interests.

“I think the lifestyles of the players and their partners are so unique,” she says, noting that most major sports don’t change all that much from week to week. In the NBA, for example, games rotate through cities across North America; in tennis, players travel from Europe to Asia to Australia to the U.S., mixing up the styles of different cities along the way. “It’s a really unique living situation,” she says. “At a certain point, I was like, ‘Wait a second, if I start showing more of my life on social media, this is really interesting.'”

The UCLA women’s studies graduate then began to cultivate her own brand. She serves as an ambassador for Wilson, which was a natural progression for her as she has used the company’s racquets for years. Wilson’s recent apparel revamp with its Wilson Sports Professional line has resonated with Bloomfield and the sports world at large. “They had a more dated look,” Bloomfield acknowledges of the past. “Recently, they completely changed it. They’re very retro-cool now and their kit is leading the WTA. Now everyone wants to wear Wilson, and I feel like I played a part in that.”

Bloomfield has worked with Wilson for several years, both as a model and content creator. But she’s not done just that; she’s met with the owners, product developers and marketers. She’s been able to talk with the team about designing for an athletic body type and creating tennis-specific clothing that caters to a variety of body types. “It’s interesting to see that side of it, as well as the content creation. It’s interesting to see how they make the clothes,” she says. “As someone who wants to get into the fashion business side of tennis, I’m learning all of this. I hope to continue to grow and learn.”

Her latest deal with Boss will see her compete at the Boss Open and create content about tennis style on and off the court. “In the age of social media, the intersection of tennis and fashion has never really happened before,” she said. “Brands are trying to capitalize on this.”

Bloomfield, now based in Florida, also wants to support her Ayann Bloomfield Foundation, and is planning a Wimbledon-related event that Wilson will also participate in. The foundation’s goal is to provide tennis apparel and equipment to underprivileged youth, but it also holds events to coincide with tournaments in cities to support women’s shelters and other organizations.

From her foundation to her tennis-related businesses, she’ll be busy this summer leading up to the U.S. Open. “That month will be super busy,” she says. “There are a lot of different brands and activations around that time. It’s the busiest time for America. [tennis]That’s going to be big.”