They're Selling the Shirt Off Her Back (Catalog)
An interview with Yana Boyko, whose design was used without permission by the Monte Carlo tournament—and a hopeful resolution.
The final of ATP 1000 Monte Carlo is booked for Sunday afternoon near Monaco, with No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 2 Jannik Sinner set to face off for the first time in what feels like an eternity by their rivalry’s standards (but is really just a little under five months).
The star-studded tournament has been a huge success on court, with hometown hero Valentin Vacherot also making a run to the semifinals that will put Monaco comfortably on top in VVV.
Tomorrow will provide ample time to enjoy the 17th chapter of the top rivalry in current tennis, but I wanted to write first about an item from Monte Carlo that has occupied my attention for the last 24 hours or so. Specifically, an item from the tournament’s merchandise store.
An Eye-Catching Shirt
Yana Boyko, a Ukrainian illustrator who left her war-torn hometown of Dnipro last year for Portugal, posted about one of her designs being used without permission on merchandise being sold at the Monte Carlo Country Club’s boutique. Boyko’s post went viral, earning more than 1.2 million views and 4.4k retweets at the time of publication (massive amounts in this degraded, anemic era of Twitter).
I am not in Monte Carlo myself, but a friend who was at the tournament on Saturday checked the store for me, and found the shirt—which is only available in children’s sizes—was still available for purchase on Saturday evening, retailing for 25 euros.
The design is unmistakably identical to Boyko’s, but with her name removed from the top-left corner and the initials “MCCC”—Monte Carlo Country Club—added beneath.
As visible on the tag, the shirt is part of an MCCC-branded collection in the shop, rather than the tournament-branded collection around the event officially known as the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters.
A tag inside the shirt indicates the shirt was made by an Italian merchandising company called Spray.
Meet Yana Boyko
In an interview with Bounces on Saturday afternoon, Boyko discussed her background as an artist. Boyko, 29, had previously worked as a calligrapher, she said, but switched during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I began drawing sports events because I love sports and decided to try combining my interests with illustration,” Boyko told Bounces. “I like to capture the story of the moment and convey the dynamics, movement, and my emotions. I prefer working with traditional materials rather than digital illustration.”
Boyko primarily works with wax pastels, including for the drawing of the racquets she said she made in 2024 before fleeing Ukraine because of the Russian invasion of the country. Tennis, she said, has been a lifelong interest of hers, even when the sport itself was not easily accessible to her during her youth in Ukraine.
“As a child, I couldn’t play tennis due to financial constraints, but I was always drawn to the aesthetics of the game,” she said. “I watched tournaments and what happened off the court—it was always fascinating.”
Boyko started playing herself years later, self-deprecatingly describing her own level as “hardly what you’d call tennis,” but still gaining a greater appreciation of the sport.
“I discovered just how complex the game is from every angle, and I became even more fascinated by it,” she said. “The court, the players’ movements, the tension of the game—all accompanied only by the players’ breathing. It’s very beautiful and captivating. I don’t want to get too deep into the emotional side of things; I hope you know what I mean.”
Tennis has become a frequent subject of Boyko’s work, as you can see in the gallery below.
Boyko won a Roland Garros ticket lottery last year, which allowed her the chance to draw in person at Court Philippe Chatrier during a match between Novak Djokovic and Filip Misolic.
Finding a Problem for Sale
The drawing of the broken racquets which appeared this week on Monte Carlo’s merchandise, Boyko said, was inspired by her appreciation for the volatility of tennis.
“I was thinking that at some point during a match, the game becomes something more and draws you in so completely that you can’t control your emotions, leading to such an outburst of energy and emotion,” she said. “But I’m actually against breaking rackets, and have never supported it. It shows a lack of respect for the sport and for those who can’t afford to play it.”
Fatefully, that instantly recognizable design was included in an Instagram video posted by the tournament and French tennis player and model Jeanne Marchi Manissier.
Boyko found out about it when one of her followers excitedly messaged her about the apparent partnership.
“I found out about it from a follower on Instagram; she sent me an influencer’s story and congratulated me on a successful collaboration with the legendary tournament,” Boyko said.
Boyko has had work commissioned and used by major clients before, but she told me she knew that there had been no such deal made between herself and the Monte Carlo Country Club or tournament, and that “the rights and license for this specific illustration have never been transferred to anyone.”
“I was shocked and disappointed,” Boyko told Bounces. “I could have imagined that some Chinese stores might [illegally] use my print, but not one of the most respected and oldest tournaments on the tour.”
Boyko told Bounces that, before she made her posts on social media on Friday, she had contacted the tournament herself, but received no satisfactory explanation or engagement. The only reply she got, she said, came after her post had begun to get major traction on Twitter.
“They wrote to me saying that they handle ticket distribution, that they were sorry this situation had occurred, and that they would forward the matter to the appropriate department,” Boyko recounted. “After that, I asked them to specify which department they would forward it to, when, and who would get back to me, so that I could keep track of the situation. I never received a response to these questions.”
The incident and the ensuing emotions led to a restless night, Boyko said—not what she needs when already sleep-deprived with a newborn of her own.
“I have to say that I couldn’t sleep, even though I’m currently caring for a 5-month-old baby,” Boyko said. “I just couldn’t quite wrap my head around how this was possible.”
Resolving the Matter
Bounces reached out to contacts at the tournament and the Monte Carlo Country Club on Friday evening. On Saturday morning, tournament director David Massey replied.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention,” Massey said. “We are contacting our supplier to clarify this.”
Spray, the Italian merchandising company which appeared to make the shirt, had not responded to a message seeking explanation by the time of publication.
Massey updated Bounces later on Saturday to say that he’d been reaching out to Boyko via her social media channels “so we can resolve the matter promptly.” Since I had been in touch with both, I connected them via email, and they began emailing one another downthread later Saturday evening.
Boyko told Bounces that she was hoping for an amicable, productive resolution to the situation that had clearly been mishandled.
“You know, normally this would have been limited to just buying a license and that’s it,” she said. “But now [the improper usage] is a done deal, and usually [that means] it’s two or three times the price of a standard license, plus royalties from merchandise sales.
“I’d be happy to work with them on a collection next year and attend the tournament,” she added. “I’m always open to collaboration, and this whole situation is simply a fight for respect for intellectual property and hard work. Nothing more, nothing less.”
I will keep folks updated here with any updates of a resolution of this matter, which hopefully can come swiftly and satisfactorily for Boyko.
For a bit more on the wider wilderness of tennis merchandising, Jessica Schiffer wrote about the topic earlier today on Hard Court:
“As one ATP executive put it to me earlier this year, the system is ‘fragmented’—a patchwork of operators where some events treat retail as a priority and others, in his words, see it as ‘one of the last areas to look at.’ The result is inconsistency at best, and at worst, a lack of clear accountability when something goes wrong.”
Thanks for reading Bounces! This piece is free for all to read to help spread and share Yana’s artwork, but please become a subscriber—free or paid—to read more here and support my work. -Ben
Great work Ben.
Great artwork by Boyko which seems like it should be popular and commercially viable. Something ironic about what seems like a “country club to the oligarchs” stealing intellectual property from a freelancer (from war-torn Ukraine no less). I realize it was the club not the tournament responsible for this carelessness. But, it would be good if her restitution deal does include doing art for the 2027 edition of Monte Carlo.