Zendaya’s Iconic Tennis Ball Heels Have Sparked a Full-Blown Trend
at Wimbledon 2026
You have probably noticed it
scrolling through your feed this week: tiny green tennis balls
perched on the back of pristine white stilettos. It looks playful,
maybe even a little absurd, and yet it keeps popping up everywhere.
What started as a single red-carpet shoe moment two years ago has
quietly snowballed into a courtside style phenomenon. And if you
assumed it was just a celebrity one-off, Wimbledon 2026 is here to
prove you wrong.
How one pair of custom pumps rewrote the courtside dress
code
The origin story traces back to
April 2024 and the press tour for the
film Challengers. Zendaya appeared at a photo call at
Hotel Hassler in Rome wearing custom Loewe tennis ball pumps. The
shoes followed a classic pump silhouette in white with a sharp
pointed toe, but the detail that stopped everyone mid-scroll was on
the heel: each stiletto incorporated a vibrant green mini tennis
ball, a nod to her role as a tennis player in the sultry sports
film.
It was cheeky, it was perfectly
on theme, and it lodged itself firmly in the collective fashion
memory. Method dressing – the practice of wearing outfits that
reference the character or project you are promoting – is nothing
new in Hollywood. But Zendaya’s execution was so precise, so
visually sticky, that it transcended the press tour entirely. Could
a single pair of heels really launch a multi-year trend at the most
tradition-bound tournament in tennis?
The answer came faster than
anyone expected. Influencer Aki Curtis attended the men’s
semifinals at The Championships at Wimbledon in London on July 12,
2024, wearing a DIY pair of Aquazzura tennis ball shoes created by
her husband. Curtis explained to FN by email that Zendaya had
inspired her husband to transform a minimalist white Aquazzura Nuda
sandal into a match-ready design in just under five minutes. The
result caught everyone’s eye at the event and proved the concept
could travel well beyond a celebrity stylist’s mood
board.
From dusty storage shelf to viral sensation
The backstory of Curtis’s shoes
adds a satisfying layer. She told FN that before she was invited to
Wimbledon, those white heels had been sitting in storage for years,
collecting dust. She had been planning to buy a new pair of block
heels that could sustain long-hour wear when Zendaya’s custom Loewe
tennis ball heels from the Challengers press tour came to mind.
What followed was a quick upcycling session and a pair of heels now
filled with great memories from London, as Curtis described
them.
The shoe moment went viral again
this week when Curtis shared flashback videos on Instagram Reels
showing the behind-the-scenes process of making the shoes, along
with reactions from fellow spectators at the event. The timing was
perfect: Wimbledon 2026 had just kicked off on Monday, and the
algorithm did the rest. Suddenly the tennis ball heel was not a
throwback curiosity – it was a live trend with fresh
momentum.
And fresh faces were ready to
carry it forward. TV personality Maura Higgins showed up on the
first day of Wimbledon at the Evian Mountain of Youth VIP Suite
wearing white Flor De Maria Jaimie slingback high heels that her
styling team had transformed into tennis-themed shoes. Similarly to
Curtis and Zendaya, Higgins wore the shoes with two added tennis
balls placed on the pointed-toe pumps’ stiletto heels. Styled by
Kris Fe, the reality star paired them with an all-white dress and a
white bow in her hair, leaning fully into the Wimbledon
palette.
Designer options for those who prefer to skip the craft
project
Not everyone is reaching for the
glue gun. Other spectators at the 2026 tournament skipped the DIY
process altogether and went for designer heels instead. One
attendee was spotted wearing Manolo Blahnik’s white pointed-toe
tennis-themed slingbacks, finished with a dainty bow and tiny
tennis balls on the vamp. It is a polished, ready-to-wear take on
the same idea, and it signals that the trend has matured enough for
luxury houses to formalize it.
What makes this particular
movement so appealing is its flexibility. You can invest in a
high-end slingback or rescue an old pair of white sandals from the
back of your closet and transform them in under five minutes. The
common thread is simple: a white heel, a flash of neon green, and a
wink at the sport unfolding on the grass courts just a few feet
away. Spectators at Wimbledon 2026 are fully taking a page out of
Zendaya’s book, indulging in method dressing for the sporting
event.
The 2026 edition of the
tournament concludes on July 12, with Italy’s Jannik Sinner and
Poland’s Iga Swiatek competing to defend the men’s and women’s
singles titles. Tennis stars like Osaka, Coco Gauff, and Frances
Tiafoe will also compete, keeping all eyes on the grounds for the
next two weeks.
The takeaway worth lacing up
Two years ago, Zendaya wore a
pair of playful custom pumps to promote a
movie, and nobody could have predicted that the look
would still be gaining speed in 2026. What we are seeing now is
proof that the most enduring trends often start with one clever,
specific detail rather than an entire outfit overhaul. You do not
need a stylist or a designer budget – just a white heel, a tennis
ball, and about five minutes of creativity. The court, it turns
out, is not just for the athletes anymore.