Queens of the Court

The pop-up tennis stadium featured young women from the United States Tennis Association and New York Junior Tennis & Learning, competing against the pros in a version of the classic “Queen of the Court” game.

Donning Nike apparel, the players sported crisp white uniforms while playfully rallying balls across the makeshift stadium. Rotating from station to station, the girls took turns paying tribute to the most popular womens sport in the world, according to Time magazine.

If you didn’t get a chance to attend, check out the photos from “Queens of the Future” below.

Sport

Sukeban Versus the World

To be a delinquent when softness is expected, to be cute in a sport that demands intimidation — Sukeban leaves nothing untouched. The term “sukeban,” quite literally translating to “delinquent girl,” harks back to 1960s and 70s Japan when girl gangs ruled the streets. Those 'sukeban' were the ones sneaking cigarettes in school bathrooms, founding the 80-member United Shoplifters group, and leading Japan’s sexual revolution. Fast forward to today, and their modern counterparts are revolutionizing pro-wrestling clad in latex and cat ears, defying anyone’s singular definition of womanhood. Sukeban is wrestling for renegades — it’s not about shattering the glass ceiling but cultivating a space without a ceiling at all.

office— You were only 15 when you started wrestling professionally. How did you learn you wanted to be a wrestler?

Bull Nakano— I had a strong sense of independence. I had a strong desire to enter society as soon as possible, earn money with my own hands, and make a living.

How did you decide on your ring name, Bull Nakano?

BN— The decision was made by AJW and Fuji TV's producers. My seniors in pro-wrestling were Dump Matsumoto and Crane Yu, and we all had names of heavy machinery — dump trucks, crane trucks, bulldozers. At first, I was called Bulldozer Nakano, but because the logo was bad, it was changed to Bull Nakano.

What is your favorite move?

BN— There are many, but the most synonymous one is the guillotine leg drop. I am proud to see this moment highlighted on the Sukeban championship belt.

In your matches, you often play a villainous role — do you find those roles more fun?

BN— I didn't like it at first, but once I decided to live my life as a villain, I regained my freedom, just like the sukeban of old. I think it became fun.

You founded Sukeban after retiring and spending some time in pro-golf — two very different sports. What drew you back to the world of wrestling?

BN— I like to think I never left wrestling. When I tried out for the AJW dojo, many people thought I would quit. Many years later, I still haven’t quit. Pro-wrestling never leaves your spirit. I lived in Florida for nine years and I played golf, but in my heart, I am Bull Nakano.

Sukeban matches are a battle against the world.

Before founding Sukeban, you wrestled all throughout the 80s and 90s. What are some differences between Sukeban matches and your matches with the AJW?

BN— AJW matches are battles — battles of bodies, thoughts, and aspirations, and we killed each other! But I think the Sukeban matches are a battle against the world. Sukeban has a broader view of the world that even people who have never watched pro-wrestling can get into. It is splendor, speed, luxury, and elegance in battle, as well as character creation unique to Sukeban, with fashion, costumes, gowns, hair and makeup, and nails that have meaning for everyone and people everywhere. This is an eye-catching organization.

The reception to the New York World Premiere was overwhelmingly positive in both the US and Japan. But I told our wrestlers that you can’t live off the success of the previous event. You have to make the next event even better. And then you have to make the next event even better again.

What’s the importance of fashion for the Sukeban girls?

BN— Sukeban intersects with the lively Japanese fashion of the good old days. For Sukeban, fashion is self-expression and a symbol of freedom and power.

Sukeban is different from every other pro-wrestling company. We are treated like movie stars with famous makeup artists and nail artists and Hollywood hairdressers. The wrestlers also wear different costumes, unlike what they are accustomed to. Fashion is extremely important in Sukeban, and I think we have torn down the wall between these worlds. Working with someone like Olympia Le-Tan, I think we can bring interest to Sukeban in a way that nobody in wrestling has ever done.

Once I decided to live my life as a villain, I regained my freedom.

In English, ‘sukeban’ means ‘delinquent girl,’ or the leader of a girl gang. What’s the importance of delinquency, specifically for Japanese women?

BN— I think at the time it was resistance to the transition from a girl to a woman. “I want to stop time. I can't become an adult yet, and I don't want to.” Maybe all the dilemmas, fears, and dissatisfaction turned into rebellion, and they protected themselves by wearing the sukeban armor, makeup and clothes.

Through Sukeban, how do you hope to advance the world of wrestling?

BN— Sukeban's philosophy is to bring the best female professional wrestlers from Japan to audiences around the world. This includes not only wrestling fans, but also new fans who are new to women's wrestling. We believe we have the most talented roster in the world. We will continue to increase the number of wrestlers. We want to provide the best platform for wrestlers to flourish, while also incorporating new elements for fans to engage with Sukeban wrestlers and content, such as anime, manga, fashion, and culture.

When people watch Sukeban, they are going to have a fun time. I think this is a given. But I strive for more. I want people to wake up the next morning and be inspired by Sukeban. I want people to watch Sukeban and know that they can leave their comfort zones, fight hard, and do their best every day.

So far, what has been the highlight of your wrestling career?

Countess Saori— I have had many highlights in my wrestling career, but I haven’t reached the biggest one that I envision yet.

Crush Yuu— I think my career highlight is getting to travel around the world to be the best wrestler I can be. I have traveled to the UK for many years and won championships. Wrestling is my life. That’s why I care so much about Sukeban in America. I’m not just satisfied with New York and Miami. I have high expectations for Sukeban, and I hope it will continue to grow. It will help me be one of the top wrestlers in the world.

Atomic Banshee— I think my biggest highlight it still to come.

While working with Olympia Le-Tan on your costumes, what types of characters are you trying to represent and why? Why go with a cute costume when wrestling tends to demand fear and intimidation?

CS— The costumes are cute yet scary. Scary yet cute. I believe this duality is the greatest charm.

CY— The costumes Olympia created are very unique, and we enjoy bringing these new characters to life. In Japan I am Yuu, but when I wear my Cherry Bomb Girls costume I am Crush Yuu, and it allows me to present a whole new side of myself.

AB— Female punk icons like Siouxsie Sioux, Jordan (Pamela Rooke), Soo Catwoman, etc., exude a powerful and aggressive appearance. By adding KAWAII to the rebellious spirit of such women, it becomes unbeatable. I believe Olympia expresses this in a modern yet retro fashion.

What’s your favorite move?

CS— I like to win matches with a Suplex.

CY— Despite what I look like, I like to run [laughs] I do a move called the cannonball, where I run across the ring, flip into my opponent, and attack them with my back. Then I also win matches with a splash, where I climb the ropes, swing enough to almost break the ring, and then jump onto someone.

AB— Sticking my thumb in someone’s eye.

Pro-wrestling never leaves your spirit. I lived in Florida for nine years and I played golf, but in my heart, I am Bull Nakano.

What makes Sukeban stand out in the world of Japanese wrestling? What’s the importance of delinquency, specifically for Japanese women?

CS— Sukeban has big arenas, top-notch lighting, and the best comrades. I believe Sukeban can create an extraordinary experience in Japan that goes beyond the ordinary. I think the essence of delinquency is not caring about others' opinions. Being true to oneself. Living as the coolest version of oneself. There's no need to conform to others.

CY— Sukeban has a special makeup, fashion, and characters. These are the best things, and you can only see them in Sukeban. I want to keep looking for new and exciting things in the future without getting caught up in the present. I am a strong Japanese woman, and I want the whole world to know it.

AB— I think what sets Sukeban apart is the emphasis on fashion and visuals, which has been lacking in the wrestling world until now. And also a very multifaceted interpretation of the concept of pro wrestling, incorporating so many different new elements to make it easier for new fans to comprehend. I think delinquency in women is fascinating. There is a hidden beauty in the immoral.

Sport

Tour de Traffic with Pacific Town Club

Created by Siddiq Cornish, Pacific Town Club is a modern sports and social club. But the club's intent is much bigger than this: in particular, it's about being a space for Black people to take part in the sports that rarely feature people who look like them, and have "historically tried to erase them." From golf to fishing to cycling, the club does it all, gathering interest from brands like Oakley and Canyon Bikes (who supplied the bikes that day) along the way. Moreover, it's also found a tight-knit community, with its tagline: 'for us, by us.'

"We want to create space in places where we haven't had a voice for so long," Cornish said. "Where we can be free of judgment, free of any expectation to be an expert or anything like that, and just promoting a healthy lifestyle. "

Inspired by the original Pacific Town Club, an all-Black mens sports and social club that was popular in the 50's with little history, Cornish has big plans for the reintroduced club. One the calendar is rock-climbing, snowboarding, and every other sport, really. "You might like it, you might not, you might do it once a month, or with your kids for the rest of your life," he said. "We're trying to plant a seed and see how it goes...We want people to ask, like, why can't it be you snowboarding in the Swiss Alps, or cycling in Mallorca?"

As serious as he is about the club's purpose, he's just as serious about the way it looks. "We're developing some cycling jerseys, we did a fishing shirt, an SPF 40 sun shirt," he said. "Black people have always been making sportswear cool––even sports that we didn't play–– so we're trying to imagine, what if we did? What if we took those same people who made the clothes cool and then took this sportswear and put it back in a context where you have this cool, stylish fashion that gets people to try out the sport?"

That evening, cycling jerseys or not, they were engaged all the same. It was 5:33 and they were getting antsy; they were late. Ahead of them was a 20-mile ride through the streets of LA, soundtracked by rush-hour traffic and shaded by palm trees. Some were nervous about not having any gears for their bike, but didn't let it show. A latecomer, still in their car, drove up, asking the group where they had found parking. Moments later, it was time to head out; all of the bikes' wheels turned in the same direction, with Cornish leading the way. They didn't want to miss the sunset.

Sport

Ben Shelton: The Pros and (C)ons of Going Pro

August 29, 2023

The limelight, accolades and everything else that glimmers in the life of a professional athlete is, more often than not, very well documented. The constant travel, hours of conditioning and the necessity to balance a laboring athletic life with family, studies and other commitments doesn’t always get the same attention.

As the 2023 US Open gets underway in Queens, emerging young star Ben Shelton is putting months of preparation and training to work as he comes up against the world’s best. Even the peripheral factors, such as the On shoes Shelton opts to don the court in, play a role in how he feels as he steps into the arena, and ultimately, how far he goes in the tournament.

After a promising collegiate career, the twenty year old is adjusting seamlessly into life as a professional, despite the added challenges that go along with stepping into the highest ranks. Ben sat down with Chris Black and Jason Stewart of How Long Gone to catch up on his rapidly evolving career as a pro and what goes into maintaining such a demanding lifestyle.

Interview by How Long Gone

Introduction by Dylan Andrews
Photos by Travis Bass

Chris Black– What do you think about New York?

Ben Shelton– I like it, man.

Chris– You never lived here though, right?

Ben– No, I never lived here. The first time I came here was 2021 for the US Open. Actually no, that's not true. I came to watch the US Open once. One time in 2017, but yeah, it's a pretty wild city.

Jason Stewart– I saw your post on Instagram today about the TV show Suits. Are you a Suits lover?

Ben– I like the show a lot. It's having a moment, right now, because it hit the algorithm on Netflix. It's happening. It's back.

Chris– How much time do you have to watch television?

Ben– Not that much. I mean, but when I was in high school and college, I had a lot. Because, I was busy not doing homework.

Jason– So you have one more year of college?

Ben– I have maybe 11 classes left. 11 or 12 classes. I started one of my classes today.

Chris– Okay. What is the degree going to be in?

Ben– General business. When I was in college, I did a finance degree, but they didn't have an online version of it, so I had to switch to general business.

Jason– So once you get the diploma, what are you going to do with it?

Ben– I don't know.

Chris– Your mom's going to put it on the wall.

Ben– Hopefully I don't have to use it for a long time.

Chris– I think general business feels like a smart thing to do because a lot of guys in your position do sports medicine, which seems less useful to be honest.

Ben– Or sports management.

Chris– You got people for that. How many people do you travel with?

Ben– I just travel with two right now. My dad, who's my coach and I have a physio.

Jason– So is that every day, morning and night?

Ben– Yeah, so I'll wake up. I'll get on the table with him for 30 minutes. Then we'll do maybe 30 more minutes of exercises. Then a warm-up before my practice, post practice. We'll do a stretch for 20 minutes. Cool down and stretch. And then we're on the table at night for maybe an hour. There's a lot. It's not easy…

Jason– Are you in the ice plunge?

Ben– Yeah. Not every day.

Chris– But how long can you go?

Ben– I mean, I can go 15 minutes.

Jason– Do you have any tips on people reading this who might be afraid of the ice plunge? That might be intimidated by it?

Ben– I don't know. I think that the ice plunge is a big mental thing for me. It's like, 'okay, how can I handle being uncomfortable on court when I'm in different situations?'

Jason– I think this is the one-year anniversary of you being pro. I read today you went pro right before the Open. Are you going to celebrate the anniversaries every year of when you went pro? Are you going to go out tonight? Are you going to pop some bub?

Ben– I don't think so. I'm only 20, so that's not really legal.

Chris– So with skateboarding, when you become a pro, as an example, you get your deck, you get your board, your pro model. You know what I mean? So when you turn pro, is it just a sign on a contract?

Ben– I don't know what the sign is that you really turned pro because everything that I was kind of...

Chris– You were already doing it.

Ben– I mean, I guess the only difference is when you're in college, you can't accept any money. You have to expense everything. So I mean, that's the only thing that really changed. You start paying taxes and all these different things.

Chris– The bad stuff.

Ben– You build a team around you. I mean, there's good and bad pros and cons to everything.

Jason– The pros and cons of being pro.

Ben– Yeah exactly, a lot of changes.

Chris– I was under the impression that a lot of people travel with a big team.

Ben– I can't do it.

Chris– Because of money or because you're like, "I'm good"?

Ben– Well, one, I don't want to spend that much money. And two, I feel like the more people that you have, the more responsibility the more you have to coordinate. I like to keep things simple.

Ben Shelton plays doubles with Iga Świątek

Chris– Now your dad's been your coach for a long time.

Ben– Yeah. Very long time.

Chris– Now that can get stressful but you guys seem to get along.

Ben– Yeah, I think that the most difficult time for us was when I was in college, because he was the collegiate coach. So having to deal with 12 other guys while dealing with me and then he has to build his lineup and put his son in there somewhere. But he's got to be careful that he is not showing favoritism. So I always got it rough, which I understood, because I'd rather him not show favoritism than show it to me.

Chris– That would make your life harder too.

Jason– But if you win every game then it's weird not to put you in.

Ben– Yeah, he was fair. He was fair but tough on me. And so now that we're out here, it's just one on one, it's like a piece of cake.

Chris– I know he played, but did he coach before or just at college?

Ben– He did. So he played in college. He played pro and then he coached when there were junior players coming up, he worked at the USTA for a while. He was working with Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish, that group of guys. And then he coached at Georgia Tech, he coached the women's tennis team.

Chris– So you lived in Atlanta?

Ben– I did for the first 10 years of my life.

Chris– That's where I'm from. Do you go back?

Ben– I do. I was just there for the Atlanta Open. But no, we have a lot of family there up in the Johns Creek area.

There's a lot. It's not easy…

Jason– So you play singles and doubles. What is good about doubles? What's the advantage of doubles?

Ben– Are you guys doubles, haters?

Chris– Kind of, yeah. It's fun for you though. I bet.

Ben– So I mean, doubles. It gives you a chance to play a little more freely. Not everything is on you.

Chris– Oh, I see what you mean. You're a teammate. You can have a little more fun space.

Ben– Yeah. If something happens. It's not just you putting all that pressure on yourself.

Chris– But if your teammate fucks up...

Ben– Dude, you can't... you got to be a good teammate. I think that's one of the skills that I learned in college is how to be a great teammate. And I think that that helps me with my doubles a lot. And then I have fun. You have a bigger court. There's more space when you're returning serves or hitting shots, there's a target up at the net that's not just standing there.

Chris– It feels like it also hones a different set of skills a little bit.

Ben– Completely different. The doubles guys have a different skill set than the singles guys. But I mean, my doubles matches lately. These crowds have been packed. And how happy these people are to see the type of points that are happening and stuff. It's almost like more energetic than my singles matches, which was crazy for me, but I was like, ‘oh, if this is the impact that I have when I play doubles, then I want to keep doing it. These people are pumped to see it and it's another chance for them to watch me.'

Jason– You still get paid from those doubles wins.

Ben– Yeah, exactly. You got to split it, but you know...

Jason– Do you split it 50/50, or is it...

Ben– Yeah, you can't say like, ‘hey, I gave more in that match. You're not getting your full half.’

Jason– Like, “you know what? I kind of fucked up today. We'll do 60/40.”

Ben– Yeah, that's not a thing.

Jason– You were just in LA a month ago or so doing those exhibitions. What's it like doing that?

Ben– I mean, it was fun. A change of pace. Completely different format from the ACP tour and definitely a lot of young people there who enjoyed it. It's one of those things where it's so different. It's kind of tennis, but kind of not at the same time.

Jason– Do you feel more pressure to do some wild shots?

Ben– Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah. And I did end up having a lot of fun. It was a cool event. I'm early in my career, I want to establish myself on the ATP tour. I want to play more events there and get used to being out here and in the feel of it.

Chris– That's what I want to ask you about though. How do you wear the jewelry on the court? Is it good luck? Are you superstitious?

Ben– No, they're light. I like the way it looks.

Jason– But it never gets in the way?

Ben– So when I had a cross on it, it got in the way. It was a little too long so I took that one off. It was my favorite one, but it was hitting me in the face bad. I thought I was going to lose a tooth so I had to take the third one off. On the tennis tour though, those guys, they really, really love watches. That's their thing.

Jason– Yeah, that's because they're rich as fuck.

Chris– You will be too.

Jason– Did you buy a watch yet?

Ben– No, I'm more of a car guy than a watch guy.

Chris– What do we got? What do we pushing?

Ben– I have a Mercedes.

Chris– So did you put shoes on it or are we keeping it factory? Did we tint the windows?

Ben– We tinted the windows. Everything else factory. It came nice. It came completely blacked out. Red detailing on the inside.

Jason– So when you're flying all over, you got the jet lag. Does it affect the mind or the body more?

Ben– The body, but then the body affects the mind. I mean as soon as you start thinking about, ‘oh, I'm not feeling good physically going on the court, you're not in a good place. But I haven't had it too bad, other than Australia, Australia got me. That was my first time out of the country and I went all the way to Australia.

Chris– Oh, wow. That's as far as you can go.

Ben– That first week was pretty bad.

Jason– Federer's old ass is feeling a lot more than you are. Enjoy it while you can.

Chris– What's the diet looking like?

Ben– I'm not crazy restrictive. I have a balanced diet.

Chris– But you don't have a nutritionist or anything?

Ben– I don't. I mean, my physio helps me.

Chris– He's in your ear a little bit.

Ben– Yeah, he's in my ear. My coach is in my ear.

Chris– He's flushing the flaming hot Cheetos down the toilet?

Ben– That's something that I could look at. But I also think that the more that you really get hyper-focused on those things, maybe it'd be something that's detrimental to me.

Chris– I kind of agree. If you're good now, there's no reason to.

Jason– Are you going to do anything else in New York? Do you have time for any non tennis activities? Go shopping?

Ben– We'll see. I mean, I'm trying to stay low-key this week. Locked in. I really want to do well here at the US Open. So that's the priority. And then if I have a few days when I'm done, then hopefully...

Chris– It's going to be the good stuff. All right, well look, enjoy your time in New York and good luck at the US Open.

Ben– I appreciate it, thank you.

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