It was the summer of 2012, and SerenaWilliams was on fire: She won her fifth Wimbledon title—her 14th Grand Slam singles title—and took home two gold medals at the London Olympics. She also had her hands full, dog-wise, with her two dogs, Jackie and Lauerlei, who often traveled with her. But then something magical happened while she was in New York for the US Open: Chip came into her life. As for the slightly rococo name: “I got Chip at a time when Rafa was winning everything. And Chip is so small. He’s a little fighter, and I felt like that was Rafa. So it’s Christopher ‘Chip’ Rafael Nadal.” From his loyalty to who would voice Chip in a movie, at the link in our bio the tennis star answers our 2026 #Dogue questionnaire. Photographed by ryanlowry