{"id":544285,"date":"2026-04-22T08:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T08:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/544285\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T08:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T08:07:12","slug":"depression-candy-and-death-stares-inside-the-secret-world-of-the-tennis-locker-room-tennis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/544285\/","title":{"rendered":"Depression candy and death stares: inside the secret world of the tennis locker room | Tennis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in the locker room after a successful first-round performance at the Australian Open in January, Coco Gauff<\/a> caught a glimpse of a friendly face across the room. The player was scoffing sweets soon after a match, prompting Gauff to joke things must have gone well for her on court.<\/p>\n

That laughter was not returned, for the player was stewing after a miserable day on court: \u201cThey were, like, \u2018No, this is depression candy,\u2019\u201d says Gauff, wincing.<\/p>\n

Part of the job description is sharing locker rooms around the world with the same people they are charged with battling on the court, an arrangement that can lead to awkward interactions for all involved. For many, such as Paula Badosa, part of the preparation for matches includes avoiding eye contact at all costs. \u201cThat\u2019s the thing we do, I think, all of us,\u201d she says, smiling. \u201cWe try to avoid it and just say hi. That day you avoid the conversation and eye contact for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gauff concurs: \u201c[With] the people I know really well, it\u2019s not really that awkward. We\u2019ll talk and be, \u2018OK, see you out there,\u2019 and that\u2019s fine. But always with people you don\u2019t know, you don\u2019t know whether to say hi to them or not. I\u2019m someone who usually always says hi, but the responses vary. And I understand \u2013 get in the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Belinda Bencic, the situations where she and her opponents are grouped closely together, such as sharing a golf cart en route to the court, are more uncomfortable than sharing a locker room. Still, even she cannot avoid the strangeness of some of these scenarios: \u201cSometimes you are doing your hair or getting ready for the match and your opponent is right there,\u201d she says. \u201cYou don\u2019t know if you should say small talk or not. Everyone is different. Some players are very relaxed \u2013 we are talking \u2013 and some players don\u2019t want to talk to you before the\u00a0match.\u201d<\/p>\n

The awkwardness does not merely extend to the opponent that day. As Gauff\u2019s faux pas in Melbourne illustrated, dozens of players pass in and out of the locker room after their matches each day, meaning it is a minefield of emotion. Some players are in tears after an excruciating defeat and others are raging. Sometimes it is impossible to know exactly what happened.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\u201cThe worst thing about sharing a locker room is seeing someone, knowing they played, but not knowing how the score went,\u201d says Gauff. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what mood they\u2019re in. I always find that hard to navigate.\u201d<\/p>\n

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: \u201cI quite enjoy it because even though you\u2019re sharing a locker room with your opponents, you\u2019re also sharing a locker room with friends,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere 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\u2019s your own teammates. It\u2019s nice there\u2019s an immediate sense of community versus [being] isolated.\u201d<\/p>\n

One obvious way to minimise awkward interactions is to spend as little time as possible in the environment. Jannik Sinner<\/a> has perfected the art of getting in and out as quickly as possible: \u201cWhen I started to come on tour, I was on-site a lot,\u201d he says. \u201cI would spend a lot of time in the locker room, a lot of time in the restaurant area. Now I\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I don\u2019t 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\u2019t say arrogant \u2013 perhaps some of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wish more weren\u2019t attached to their results and to what they do that determines who they are. I love humble people. That\u2019s one of the reasons I admire Giannis Antetokounmpo a lot. He\u2019s achieved so much through basketball. He\u2019s one of the most humble athletes I\u2019ve ever met and spent time with. I wish more tennis players were like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ga\u00ebl 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<\/p>\n

Others have no problems with their peers. Daniil Medvedev<\/a> says his coaches, Rohan Goetzke and Thomas Johansson, often tell him stories about how messy relations between players used to be. \u201cI heard from them that 20 years ago it was as toxic as it could be,\u201d he says. \u201cI was shocked. I was, like: \u2018But that\u2019s why you guys finish your careers early because it\u2019s constant pressure.\u2019<\/p>\n

He told me some stories where from when you wake up you\u2019re already under pressure. Going to the locker room, you\u2019re under pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. \u201cIt 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,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a shared space, so you have to really also be a little bit respectful to everyone else. Just be respectful and normal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Back in the locker room after a successful first-round performance at the Australian Open in January, Coco Gauff…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-544285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}