Atlanta Magazine

I can say with particular pride that I was the first person to play tennis inside State Farm Arena. Elton John staged a tennis benefit for his AIDS Foundation at the newly opened building, then Philips Arena, in 2000, with Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Billie Jean King, and other legendary players on hand. I was a tennis newbie and arranged to hit with doubles star Luke Jensen before the event for a story I was writing.

Handmade Dumplings & Noodles in Marietta's open kitchen turns out Chinese street food favorites (Sichuan fried rice, hearty noodle dishes, and dry-fried green beans and eggplant) and some 1,000 dumplings a day. As good as the food was that first night, it was even better as leftovers. Over-ordering is strongly encouraged.

There's been a plethora of projects Sue Schroeder has created since reshaping her dance company four years ago. Through collaborations at home and abroad, Schroeder, 67, has discovered new ways to amplify her artistic voice and bring Atlanta more deeply into the conversation around experimental, movement-based art.

Gabriella White, the parent company of the Summer Classics and Gabby furniture lines, recently hosted a grand reopening event at its north Atlanta showroom in Roswell. The store, which is the company’s largest, has received a new facade as well as interior improvements.

Atlanta is widely acknowledged as the tennis capital of the world, with more than 100,000 players throughout the metro area in leagues such as the Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association (ALTA) and USTA Atlanta. It’s near impossible to get an exact number, with those participating in junior tennis, high school, and college teams, as well as those who play independently or in private clubs, adding to the tennis craze.

Christopher Eubanks, who grew up playing on the courts of the South Fulton Tennis Center, announced himself at Wimbledon in 2023. His string of upset wins was impressive, but the reckless abandonment he played with, plus the shock on his face after every win, made him a crowd favorite. His run ended in the quarterfinals, the furthest an American man had gone at the tournament since 2017, and his ranking jumped to number 29 in the world, a career high. But since that summer on grass, Eubanks hasn’t been back on tennis’s biggest stages.

It wasn’t unreasonable to imagine Horace Reid on a rocket ship to the top of the tennis world. Many already saw him as the next great Black champion. But within a few years, Reid’s tennis dreams would be all but dashed: He’d quit college, fail to find consistency on the pro tour, and suffer an agonizing fallout with Arthur Ashe, his hero and would-be mentor. The rupture would not only hamstring Reid’s career, in his telling, but also burden him with a secret he felt he could never share: how everything went so wrong.

I’m not an athlete, but as I climb further into my 30s, I find myself caring more about physical fitness. The thing is, I need to have fun doing it. Chasing and hitting a ball is fun, plus there’s a social aspect. Last summer, I joined an ALTA league, unlocking a world of tennis I didn’t know existed in Atlanta. Starting a new sport can feel overwhelming, but fear not; I’m here to help you.

Yes, the Atlanta Open was not the best venue for tennis, though I do also see its temporary structure, and existence, as a sign: Commitment is important, for both the people with the checkbooks and pens, and the fans.

The Cook’s Warehouse began as a way for owner Mary Moore to bring the joy of home cooking to more people. She launched it in 1995 on Amsterdam Avenue after successful stints at some of Atlanta’s most well-respected restaurants such as Indigo Coastal Grill and Partners Morningside Cafe. It was an interesting time to launch such a store; The Food Network launched in 1993, supercharging non-professional interest in cooking, and Atlanta was blowing up as a culinary city.