A Game Of Emotion

These days, CAMARADERIE, rather than conflict, mark the men’s and women’s tours. At the end of matches, hugs and pats on the back have replaced perfunctory handshakes at the net — often even by bitterly disappointed losers.

All-time great Chris Evertused to quip she spent more time with tour players in the locker room and on the courts than she did with her husband. The globe-trotting pros are competitors but also colleagues. As with any other workplace, friends and enemies co-mingle. Tennis is one of the rare pro sports where opponents share the same locker room.

SOMETIMES IT’S FRIENDLY and fun there; sometimes not so much. Brad Gilbert, who coached Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, recalled sitting in a 1980s locker room with intense and often antagonistic champions, John Mc Enroe, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker. “I couldn’t believe the electricity in that room. These four guys wouldn’t even look at each other and wouldn’t talk to each other.”

Personalities in this most individual of sports run the gamut  from the surly Lendl and the aloof Maria Sharapova to the cheerful Kim Clijsters and the genial Roger Federer. Sharapova once called the locker room her “least favourite place.” For most players, it’s where they share the latest gossip and let their hair down. It’s where raw emotions and painful injuries are laid bare after matches.

These days, camaraderie, rather than conflict, mark the men’s and women’s tours. Perhaps that’s because the average age of world-class players has increased to nearly 30, and for the first time the Top-5 men are all 30 or older. These mature veterans, especially down-to-earth Federer, humble Rafael Nadal, extroverted Novak Djokovic and a poised Venus Williams, have set the tone with their classy professionalism. At the end of matches, hugs and pats on the back have replaced perfunctory handshakes at the net —often even by bitterly disappointed losers. (Many women prefer a cheek-to-cheek gesture of affection.)