

A French tennis player who shot to global attention by defeating Serena Williams in a gripping, marathon Wimbledon debut.
For years, Harmony Tan worked in the trenches of professional tennis, navigating the lower-tier tournaments with a versatile, crafty game built on slice backhands and clever angles. Then, in the summer of 2022, she stepped onto Wimbledon's Court One for a first-round match against Serena Williams. What unfolded was a three-hour epic, a masterclass in tactical disruption from Tan. Using her signature slices to disrupt rhythm and displaying remarkable nerve, she emerged victorious in a tiebreak. Overnight, the world learned her name. While that match remains her most famous moment, Tan's career is a testament to persistence. Trained by former champion Nathalie Tauziat, she represents a classic, thoughtful style of tennis in a power-dominated era, proving that guile and heart can still create magic on the sport's biggest stages.
1997–2012
Born into smartphones, social media, and school shootings. The most diverse generation in history. Pragmatic about money, fluid about identity, anxious about the climate. They do not remember a world before the internet.
Harmony was born in 1997, placing them squarely in the Generation Z. The events that shaped this generation — social media, climate anxiety, and a pandemic — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
The biggest hits of 1997
#1 Movie
Titanic
Best Picture
Titanic
#1 TV Show
ER
The world at every milestone
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Euro currency enters circulation
Deepwater Horizon oil spill; iPad launched
Edward Snowden reveals NSA surveillance programs
Paris climate agreement; same-sex marriage legalized in the US
Royal wedding of Harry and Meghan; Parkland shooting
She is coached by former Wimbledon finalist Nathalie Tauziat.
Tan is of Cambodian and Vietnamese descent through her parents.
Her first-round win over Serena Williams at Wimbledon was her main-draw debut at the tournament.
“I have many weapons. I try to use my game to make my opponent uncomfortable.”