Tennis is an American indie pop band from Denver made up of husband-and-wife duo Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley. During their first tour, James Barone joined the band on drums. The couple met each other while studying philosophy in college, and started the band after they got back from a seven-month sailing expedition down the Eastern Atlantic Seaboard. They took their name from a joke about Patrick Riley playing tennis in college. Prior to joining Tennis, Moore's earliest singing experience was in church choirs during her youth.

Their first releases, both in July 2010, were the "Baltimore" EP on the Underwater Peoples label and the "South Carolina" single on Fire Talk. Tennis released their first studio album, Cape Dory on Fat Possum Records in January 2011. The album, featured on NPR, is based on the couple's experiences during their sailing trip.