The U.S. Open looked like fun and games for Racquet magazine.

The company threw a bustling rooftop party at Rockefeller Center with at least seven corporate sponsors, where guests juggled Shake Shack burgers with Ciroc goblets. They celebrated a new issue, guest-edited by David Granger, formerly of Esquire, with Andre Agassi on the cover — an A.I.-generated image of the champion wrapped absurdly in pastel pink feathers.

At the tournament, the magazine’s management mixed with current and potential business partners: Fila, Rolex, BNP Paribas, the Saudi Tennis Federation. A few weeks earlier, they played in and won a doubles tournament at a rarefied grass-court country club in Queens.

But behind those wins was a year of tumult and transformation, with the two co-founders locked in a dispute that led to dueling lawsuits.

In one corner was David Shaftel, the editor of the print magazine, who wanted Racquet to grow steadily and sustainably within its

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