The Awkward Reality of Sharing Locker Rooms with Opponents

Back in the locker room after a successful first-round performance at the Australian Open in January, Coco Gauff 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.

That laughter was not returned, for the player was stewing after a miserable day on court: “They were, like, ‘No, this is depression candy,’” says Gauff, wincing.

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. “That’s the thing we do, I think, all of us,” she says, smiling. “We try to avoid it and just say hi. That day you avoid the conversation and eye contact for sure.”

Gauff concurs: “[With] the people I know really well, it’s not really that awkward. We’ll talk and be, ‘OK, see you out there,’ and that’s fine. But always with people you don’t know, you don’t know whether to say hi to them or not. I’m someone who usually always says hi, but the responses vary. And I understand – get in the moment.”

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: “Sometimes you are doing your hair or getting ready for the match and your opponent is right there,” she says. “You don’t know if you should say small talk or not. Everyone is different. Some players are very relaxed – we are talking – and some players don’t want to talk to you before the match.”

The awkwardness does not merely extend to the opponent that day. As Gauff’s 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.

“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.”

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.”