ATP Tour

The Handover: Puppets pull the strings on ATP Tour

It all started as a simple idea. Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz and Lorenzo Musetti had been grinding through the ATP Tour season, chasing PIF ATP Rankings points, trophies and sleep in equal measure.

Somewhere between a training block and a long-haul flight, a thought struck De Minaur: what if someone else could handle press conferences, photoshoots and fan content — so we could stay focused on the tennis?

Enter: the puppets.

#TheHandover: How it all started... 

At first, the plan seemed foolproof. The handmade doubles of the trio — complete with miniature racquets, finely stitched hair, and a surprising amount of attitude — were brought to lighten the load. The players could train; the puppets could perform. Simple. Effective. Genius, even.

It all began at the Rolex Paris Masters. But as the cameras rolled, something unexpected happened. The puppets weren’t content to be background characters. They started improvising, talking back, and they were so realistic that they started stealing the spotlight.

_{^{The puppets meet in Paris. Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour}}

Still, in classic ATP Tour fashion, everyone’s taking it in stride.

The Handover has become the latest must-watch social series. Stay tuned on the ATP Tour's Instagram account to find out who is really running the show.

The puppets aren’t saying much, though they’ll see you on Tour.