Depression candy and death stares: inside the secret world of the tennis locker room

Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina head to court on a golf buggy before the final of the BNP Paribas Open in 2023 in Indian Wells. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

“The worst thing about sharing a locker room is seeing someone, knowing they played, but not knowing how the score went,” says Gauff. “You don’t know what mood they’re in. I always find that hard to navigate.”

After spending so much of their lives in communal locker rooms from their junior days, players quickly become used to these interactions. Madison Keys does not know any other way: “I quite enjoy it because even though you’re sharing a locker room with your opponents, you’re also sharing a locker room with friends,” she says.

“There have been moments where I know that either myself or other players have had really tough moments and you always have someone around you who can give you a hug and talk you through it. There is that immediate support. I guess other sports have that, but it’s your own teammates. It’s nice there’s an immediate sense of community versus [being] isolated.”

One obvious way to minimise awkward interactions is to spend as little time as possible in the environment. Jannik Sinner has perfected the art of getting in and out as quickly as possible: “When I started to come on tour, I was on-site a lot,” he says. “I would spend a lot of time in the locker room, a lot of time in the restaurant area. Now I’m a bit different. Especially on training days, I come here [and] when the training is over or I eat something very fast here, then I leave or I leave straight away.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas believes most players are on good terms with each other, but observes that some are less willing to greet when they cross paths. He is particularly unimpressed by people who interact differently once they achieve a modicum of success.

“One thing I don’t understand is how they develop a bit of an attitude and a bit of an ego once they make one or two good results. Their whole personality changes. I wouldn’t say arrogant – perhaps some of them.

“I just wish more weren’t attached to their results and to what they do that determines who they are. I love humble people. That’s one of the reasons I admire Giannis Antetokounmpo a lot. He’s achieved so much through basketball. He’s one of the most humble athletes I’ve ever met and spent time with. I wish more tennis players were like that.”

Gaël Monfils, Thomas Enqvist, Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud of Team Europe in the locker room before the Laver Cup in Vancouver in 2023. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for Laver Cup

Others have no problems with their peers. Daniil Medvedev says his coaches, Rohan Goetzke and Thomas Johansson, often tell him stories about how messy relations between players used to be. “I heard from them that 20 years ago it was as toxic as it could be,” he says. “I was shocked. I was, like: ‘But that’s why you guys finish your careers early because it’s constant pressure.’

He told me some stories where from when you wake up you’re already under pressure. Going to the locker room, you’re under pressure.”

Nowadays, Medvedev says, the locker room is far more peaceful and largely drama free. The sport is a melting pot of different cultures, customs and background, but, according to Bencic, along with a potent serve, groundstrokes and a cool head under pressure, a key quality for a top player is tact and discretion. “It can be a little bit awkward if someone has had a bad day or just lost or something, then someone else comes in and is all happy,” she says. “It’s a shared space, so you have to really also be a little bit respectful to everyone else. Just be respectful and normal.”