Adeline Arjad Cook started playing tennis at the age of 35 as a way to improve her fitness. Despite her late start, the British native now runs her own tennis boutique and a tennis fashion business. Given all of her success, Cook’s biggest gain from the world of tennis was her husband, whom she met on the court. Ten years into the sport, Cook hopes to give others the same joy and started a tennis matchmaking service, hosting “Doubles for Singles” events. The game of tennis has provided Adeline with more than one love in her life, and she hopes to spread that across Southern California.
“We were supposed to be having a practice match,” recalled Cook on meeting her then-future husband. “One of the ladies called in sick, and he was upstairs, so someone ran up to get him… and it was love at first sight!” Her own experience finding love on the court inspired Cook to get more involved in tennis and Cook created the “Love Love Boutique” in Beverly Hills. Her impetus for opening the boutique was to create a space for the tennis community in SoCal to have a place to connect over the game. “My goal is to just gather tennis players from all over the world to connect and share the love of tennis.”
The store is a three-story luxury boutique where customers can purchase tennis apparel as well as accessories for on and off the court. The store also contains a lounge for customers to enjoy tennis from around the world and chat about the game. “Anytime I meet people in my boutique, or when I play and meet people who are single, I want them to fall in love with their doubles partner too!”
Many of Cook’s customers and the people in her community are players who were introduced to tennis later in their lives and have a unique perspective on the sport. “For us, it’s not just about the tennis match,” said Cook. “Tennis is this amazing physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental challenge. But then there’s this other kind of spiritual intuition that comes into your life as well.” Cook saw something special in the connections that people would make at her boutique, much like how she met her husband, and had the inspiration to create them more deliberately.
“I collect the names and numbers of people who love tennis, and if they’re single, every so often I host a really fun event,” she explained. “The last one I did was three months ago in Topanga Canyon, and people flew in from different states!” Cook has hosted twelve “Doubles for Singles” events over the past three years and has no plans of stopping soon. At her most recent “Doubles for Singles” event, Cook matched up at least one couple that is still together now and has been playing tennis together since the event.
Even if Cook’s events don’t match up anyone else, she believes that her involvement in tennis has at least helped her find love in many ways. “I can’t even tell you how much I got from tennis,” she exclaimed. “I would never have met my husband if it had not been for tennis. And all of my best friends, I have all of them, thanks to tennis.” Cook also cites her USTA teams as a large motivation for her to continue playing tennis and take up mixed doubles alongside her husband. The pair play husband-and-wife tournaments and hope to travel the country and compete nationally.
Cook asserts that having just one tennis player in a relationship is bound to be challenging, as only tennis players truly understand each other. Whether that’s true or not, her relationship with her husband and the vibrant community that she has drawn together through Love Love Tennis are a testament to the bonds that tennis can forge.
“I just think that whether you’ve never picked up a racquet, whatever size you are, and whatever age you are, everybody should give tennis a try,” said Cook. “The group of people that tennis brings together is eclectic and absolutely fabulous. And I love, love tennis!”
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