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Editor’s note: This story is part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Follow Peak here.
NEW YORK — The moment was easy to miss. In the first game of the third set of the 2023 U.S Open women’s final, Coco Gauff had a break point against her opponent, Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka peppered a series of punishing forehands that sent Gauff scrambling. Had a slower player been playing, the point may have been over. But Gauff, one of the fleetest players on tour, did not give in, forcing a 13-shot rally that finally ended with Sabalenka smashing an overhead winner.
Still, it was what happened next that was unusual: Gauff pumped her fist … after losing the point.
The 2025 U.S. Open is showcasing a new era of tennis, one dominated by a young rivalry on the men’s side and a crew of talent on the women’s side. It’s also highlighting something else, foreshadowed by Gauff and her generation: the ubiquitousness of the fist pump.
Once upon a time, the act was reserved for volcanic celebrations from the likes of Jimmy Connors, or utilized by demonstrative swashbucklers like Lleyton Hewitt. These days, it’s everywhere.
Hit a forehand winner in the first set? Fist pump.
Lose a tough point early in the third set? Fist pump
Opponent dumps a ball into the net after a long rally? Fist pump.
Take Jannik Sinner, the top-ranked men’s player, who punctuates most points with a subtle fist and a focused look toward his coaches. Or Carlos Alcaraz, who does the same — just with more vigor.
“I guess it’s just a natural expression,” said Adam Walton, an unseeded Australian who lost in the second round.
Like anything, some fans may tire of the self expression. But is that all it is? Just athletes showing their excitement in the most accessible way possible?
In an era of sports psychologists and mental skills coaches, the act is not necessarily directly prescribed, said Earlynn Lauer, a mental performance consultant who works with junior players and professionals. That doesn’t mean it can’t be helpful to a player. As players lean into self-affirming behaviors and mental training, the fist pump is one of the easiest ways to express positivity.
“Positive responses in general definitely have a performance benefit,” Lauer said. “It’s really hard to fist pump when your shoulders are rounded and your head is down. So naturally, that action is going to lift you up physically and create positive body language.”
At its most basic, the act of raising a fist in celebration is a simple act of power. Evolutionary psychologists say the roots of the gesture date back to our earliest human ancestors and likely beyond. It can signal dominance, boost testosterone and decrease levels of cortisol, relieving stress.
That explains, in part, why humans do it. Tennis history is more complicated.
In the 1970s and 80s, players like Connors enlivened a traditional sport with emotional outbursts. By the 2000s, Hewitt, a Grand Slam champion from Australia, started pushing the bounds of acceptability. Then came Rafael Nadal.
At some point, Lauer says, the fist pump became, in her words, “more socialized.” Younger players watched older players, who had watched even older players. The gesture went from instinctive celebration in one generation to a learned behavior in another.
When South African Kevin Anderson made a surprise run to the 2017 U.S. Open final as the 28th seed, he did so with a staggering regimen of constant fist pumps.
“I feel like it allows me to play better tennis,” he said at the time. “That’s something I have always been looking at — any edge I can get. Everybody talks about how important the mental side is, so the faster you can reset after a point that maybe hasn’t gone your way … definitely the better.”
The way Anderson saw it, his fist pumps became a mental trigger, a way to acknowledge to himself that he had played a good point. When he did it over and over, it became a cue.
“That increases your confidence level,” he said.
Tennis has long been among the lonely, isolating sports. In the last decade, though, the vibe has started to shift. The rules on coaching have relaxed, increasing the communication between players and the coaches in their box courtside. One consequence: the fist pumps go both ways.
“For tennis players, it’s sort of like a group hug but from afar,” said Alicia Naser, a behavioral scientist and performance coach who works with both hockey and tennis players.
For Lauer, the fist pump helps facilitate one of the most important aspects of the mental game: Playing with intention. The process includes understanding the “response stage” — the moment just after a point — and the “recovery stage”, which means controlling your breath and preparing for the next one. Looking at it that way, the fist pump in 2025 is actually akin to a deep breath.
“If I’m fist pumping, that means I’m steady enough mentally to do that,” Lauer said. “I’m not necessarily thinking about mistakes that I’ve made or I’m not frustrated by what has happened in the previous points.
“It relates to being more confident and being able to analyze and problem solve a bit better.”
Whatever happens in the final week of the U.S. Open, one thing is certain: The winner will pump their fist. The loser might, too.
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Al Bello / Getty Images)