#federinka

Nobody’s dismissing friendship. Nobody’s saying it’s not important, or not allowed. Friendship is important. But shipping isn’t about erasing it—it’s about layering something else on top. It’s not “instead of,” it’s “what if.” What if that same closeness and softness also carried a romantic charge? What if care, vulnerability, and affection could be read two ways at once?

That’s what makes it fantasy. And fantasy has value. For a lot of people—especially younger writers—it’s a way to learn their trade, to practice storytelling, to experiment with sexuality, to figure out how relationships might work. It’s a sandbox, and everyone plays differently.

And here’s the kicker: the friendships themselves are already fascinating. Especially in tennis, where half the time your closest mates are also the people you have to face across the net. Who’s training together, who’s sharing a laugh, who’s edging closer in photos—it’s all part of the texture. Then you’ve got someone like Qinwen Zheng who flat-out says she doesn’t want friends on tour because it would make competing against them too hard. The whole social fabric is messy and complicated and wonderful.

So maybe let’s stop acting like friendship and shipping cancel each other out? They don’t. They can coexist. They do coexist.

And if I want to imagine an extra layer on top of a handshake or a practice session? That’s my sandbox.

favourite tennis friendships (2 of 9)

Roger Federer / Stan Wawrinka

‘I still love you, Roger’ - WAWRINKA, Stan

Roger 🐐and Stan 🐻  2 most great player 👍 2 friends 👬 2 Swiss🇨🇭  in final Good luck 🍀

✨ Carlos/Jannik — the obvious one. Rivals, friends, whatever-it-is. Sparks flying across the net, the winks, the "I wake up in the morning thinking about him". (They make it too easy.) ✨ Federer/Nadal — the epic. The mythology. A ship that’s basically its own religion at this point. ✨ Berrettini/Sinner — domestic-core. Sunshine Matteo with serious Jannik. It’s all pasta dinners, grounding hugs, and “I’ll pick you up from practice.” ✨ Murray/Djokovic — grumpy old married couple energy. They’ve been bickering since they were kids and somehow never stopped. ✨ Federer/Wawrinka — the bromance so blatant it barely counts as shipping, but come on. ✨ Grigor/??? — the wildcard. The man gets shipped with everyone at some point—Federer, Murray, Novak… he’s basically the fandom’s free square. ✨ Vagnozzi/Cahill — I swear Tumblr just handed me this one. I didn’t go looking, but suddenly there it was, and now I can’t stop laughing at how oddly entertaining it is.

What I’m realising is that each ship scratches a different itch. Some are about intensity, some are about history, some about softness or chaos. I don’t think I’m ever going to be the type who needs to “prove” anything is real—it’s more that I like the what if, the vibe, the story potential.