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Tennis cards: the series and the signed cards

Tennis cards are trading cards featuring tennis players, from new names with their first cards to legends. In 2023 professional tennis got its first group licensing agreement for trading cards. It gave Fanatics, which owned Topps at the time, the right to use the names and images of the women and men players who had signed up to the agreement of the player organisation PTPA.

Quick facts

Licence	The player organisation PTPA's 2023 group agreement with Fanatics, which owned Topps at the time
Players	Women and men players who have signed up, plus legends
Markings	RC for rookie cards, 1st for the player's first trading card
Formats	Hobby box, value box and blaster
Signatures	Guaranteed in the hobby box, directly on the card or stuck on
Year	The year of the edition, which can be earlier than the year of release

What collectors look for

Rookie cards	Marked RC, from the player's first season or shortly after.
First card	Marked 1st, the player's first trading card.
Signed cards	Signature directly on the card or stuck on.
Relic cards	An inserted piece of clothing or racket.
Numbered parallels	Refractor colours with a stamped print run, down to 1 of 1.
Legends	Players who have retired.

RC and 1st are two different markings. RC appears on rookie cards, while 1st shows that the card is the player's first trading card. The same player can also have rookie cards from several manufacturers. Coco Gauff's card in Upper Deck's Exquisite Collection is often counted as Gauff's official rookie card, and there are signed rookie cards of Carlos Alcaraz from NetPro 2022. You can read more about the term in the guide to rookie cards.

The series you will come across

The series are listed in the order they came out, and under each one you will find what sets it apart from the others.

Topps Chrome Tennis

First edition 2023

Topps' first chrome tennis series was 2021 Topps Chrome Tennis. It was delayed until May 2023 and used the help of the International Tennis Hall of Fame to fill its checklist of 100 cards. With the 2024 edition the base set grew to 200 cards, and that edition carried a licence from the player organisation Professional Tennis Players Association. The base set has rookie cards and cards with the 1st marking, which shows the player's first trading card. The 2024 signatures included Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Świątek and Novak Djokovic, but also former stars such as Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

The chase cards are Dual Autographs, limited to 25 copies at most, and the Superfractor, a single copy and the highest refractor colour in the series.

Topps Graphite Tennis

First edition 2024

Topps Graphite Tennis, which debuted in December 2024, is known for its dark chrome and a pattern of hexagons shaped around the player. The series does not carry the Chrome name, and the Refractor ladder is shorter than in Topps Chrome Tennis, with eight parallels in 2024 and the Red Crystalline Refractor 1 of 1 at the top. Each 2024 hobby box had a metal card from Active Metal or All Metal in addition to signed cards and relic cards. After a break in 2025 the series returned in 2026 as a hobby-only edition, with twice as many signed cards and relic cards per box as in 2024.

The chase cards are the Red Crystalline Refractor, a single copy, and Grand Slam Debut Signatures, a set of autographs of eleven legends.

Topps Royalty Collection Tennis

First edition 2025

In Topps Royalty Collection Tennis the hobby box is a single pack of ten cards, including six signed cards and two relic cards. The premium series debuted with the 2024 edition, which came out in May 2025, and all 100 cards in the base set are numbered to 99 copies at most. The series introduced the relic cards Racket Knob Relics and Racket Knob Autographs, with a piece of the butt end of the racket handle, numbered 1 of 1. The checklist mixes legends such as Andre Agassi and Monica Seles with players such as Carlos Alcaraz, and rookie cards of players including Ben Shelton.

The chase cards are Racket Knob Relics and Racket Knob Autograph Relics, a single copy of each, and the Pursuit of Greatness autograph set.

Topps Triumphant Tennis

First edition 2025

Triumphant Tennis came out in 2025 as the first tennis edition from Topps that year, a premium series in which every card is limited to 99 copies at most. A hobby box is one pack of five cards: three autographs and two base cards. The base set has 75 cards with well-known players past and present, and the parallels have tennis names such as Grass Court Green in 35 copies, Clay Court Orange in 25 and Tennis Ball Yellow in 15, down to the FoilFractor in a single copy. The autographs include cards with two and three players.

The chase cards are the FoilFractor, a single copy, and the dual- and triple-signed cards.

The licence and what the cards show

The group agreement was announced in March 2023 by Fanatics and Winners Alliance, the for-profit company of the player organisation PTPA. Fanatics then committed to releasing a series of player cards every year for two decades. Before the agreement, tennis cards came mainly from smaller manufacturers such as NetPro and Ace Authentic, and in 1991 NetPro released the first licensed cards of players including Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras.

The licence covers the players' names and images, and the 2024 Topps Chrome Tennis carried it. A player who has not signed up may be missing entirely, and the same applies to a player with an exclusive card deal with another manufacturer. For example, Panini and Jannik Sinner announced an exclusive multi-year trading card deal in June 2024.

Signed cards and relic cards

A signed card has the signature directly on the card or on a label that was stuck on afterwards – a sticker autograph. The manufacturer Playoff began collecting signatures on labels in 2001, so that the player did not have to sign the cards themselves. Most collectors prefer the signature directly on the card. The tennis series have had both kinds, sometimes in the same series, so check which kind a card has before you buy it.

Relic cards have an inserted piece of something the player has used, in tennis including fabric from a shirt and parts of rackets. The back states where the piece comes from. Game-used means the material was used in a match, and collectors value it more highly than player-used. The tennis series also include event-used, material from an event.

What makes a tennis card sought after

Rookie cards are counted among the most sought-after cards in tennis, and relic cards are among the cards collectors chase. Signed cards and numbered parallels are also popular, and the numbered ones are printed in much smaller quantities than the base cards.

In Topps Chrome Tennis the Superfractor sits at the top of the refractor colours, numbered 1 of 1, and dual-signed cards with two players on the same card are printed in small numbers. A base card and a numbered parallel with the same image are two different cards, and their prices cannot be compared directly.

Which product should you buy

Try the category	Value box or blaster
Chase signatures	Hobby box, with signed cards in every box
Build the base set	Topps Chrome Tennis, hobby box
Chase relic cards	Topps Graphite Tennis or Topps Royalty Collection Tennis
Chase the retail colours	Value box or blaster
Collect one player	Single cards instead of boxes

In Topps Chrome Tennis the hobby box has more cards per pack and signed cards in every box. The value box and blaster have fewer and smaller packs and no guaranteed signatures, but they have their own refractor colours that are not found in the hobby box. The retail format is sold under both names, and the checklists call it Value Blaster. You can read more about the difference in the guide to hobby or retail.

Common mistakes

Reading 1st as a rookie card. RC and 1st are different markings.
Thinking that the Topps rookie card is the player's only rookie card.
Expecting a signed card in a value box or blaster. Signatures are guaranteed only in the hobby formats.
Comparing a sticker autograph with a signature directly on the card as if they were of equal value.
Thinking that the year on the box is the year of release. An edition can come out the year after its stated year or even later.

Frequently asked questions

Who makes tennis cards? Topps' series are based on the 2023 group agreement with the player organisation PTPA. Individual players can have their own card deals with other manufacturers, such as Jannik Sinner with Panini.
Are women players included? Yes. The agreement covers both women and men players who have signed up.
What does 1st on the card mean? It means that the card is the player's first trading card. Rookie cards are marked RC. See the rookie card guide.
Why is a particular player missing? Topps may use the players who have signed up to the group agreement, and a player with an exclusive deal with another manufacturer may be missing.
What is a Superfractor? The rarest refractor colour in Topps Chrome Tennis, numbered 1 of 1.

How to read a tennis card

Year and series	The year and name of the edition, such as 2024 Topps Chrome Tennis
Card number	Base cards are numbered in sequence, signed cards have a letter code such as TCA-ADM
RC or 1st	A rookie card or the player's first trading card
Parallel	The refractor colour, with the name from the series' checklist
Numbering	The number of the copy and the print run, stamped on the card as 12/50
Relic card	The back states where the piece comes from, such as game-used or event-used

Starting to collect tennis cards

Choose a player or a group of players to collect.
Open a value box or blaster first to see what the series looks like.
Learn the difference between RC and 1st before you buy single cards.
Check whether the signature is directly on the card or stuck on. This differs between editions.
Put the cards you want to keep in card sleeves as soon as you open them. See the guide on how to protect your cards.