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“Are we tennis players or are we animals in a zoo?”
This was the dramatic question posed by world No 2 and Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek when backing world No 3 Coco Gauff in the latter’s recent outcry regarding lack of privacy in players’ locker rooms.
The American had been caught smashing her racket to smithereens, supposedly behind the scenes, after a last-eight loss to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina at the recent Australian Open.
The fact is all professional sportsmen and women, in this social media-saturated age, should expect to be under celluloid scrutiny within the precinct of any main event and, to a large extent, encourage it.
Online fans are invited into inner sanctums to view players’ daily routine on an almost daily basis. Where do you draw that fine line on demanding privacy, or editing behavioural patterns, when you are literally “advertising” every personal aspect of your incredibly glamorous life?
World No 1 and AO champion Carlos Alcaraz took time out to attend the F1 preseason testing in Bahrain in the company of compatriot Fernando Alonso, whose victory celebration in Japan Alcaraz had emulated when he beat Novak Djokovic in the Melbourne final.
The intention was for the “King of the Court” to be snapped and associated with F1 Kings of the Circuit. Thereafter the Spaniard went fishing off the Doha coast on the eve of the Qatar Masters with world No 2 Jannik Sinner and Russian duo Daniil Medvedev and defending champion Andrey Rublev.
This elite group, all decked out in the same attire, all hauled in a fish on cue ― for the sake of a carefully orchestrated and no doubt enjoyable Qatar cultural promotion ― all caught on cameras, of which they were all cognisant.
Had the notoriously fiery Rublev, prone to racket smashing, not landed a fish and felt inclined to break his rod, that too would have been in the public domain. You cannot have your cake and eat it.
The All England Tennis Club has informed the WTA that they will not be removing any existing cameras in their ladies’ locker rooms during Wimbledon 2026.
The moral of the story is players know precisely where cameras lurk and if you must let off steam, do it in the sanctuary of the shower, where there is already steam and, to date, no cameras.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz and Sinner, least likely to suffer on-court meltdowns, cruised through the first round of their first matches since the AO as smoothly as their fishing boat cleaving through the Persian Gulf.
The Italian made short shrift of Czech Tomas Machac 6-1 6-4 and the Spanish juggernaut similarly felled Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 6-4 7-6(5) to clock up his 150th hard court victory.
Further afield at the Dallas Masters, US No 2 Ben Shelton showed mettle in clawing his way back from a set down to beat US top seed Taylor Fritz in a three-set thriller 3-6 6-3 7-5 and earn his first ATP indoor title.
Fritz had won two previous matches in final-set tiebreaks, so the pressure was on Shelton, who saved three championship points.
One wonders whether this heralds the changing of the US guard.
Certainly changes are afoot in the WTA elite rankings, where Canadian teen sensation Victoria Mboko is threatening to break into the top 10. The 19-year-old caused a major stir when she felled AO champion Elena Rybakina 7-5 4-6 6-2, drawing a line under the Kazakhstani’s nine-match winning streak.
Mboko started 2025 outside the top 300 and is now ranked No 13 — no mean feat and largely attributed to her aggression and desire to move forward on court.
Another player on a mission to encourage aspiring youngsters to volley more and to develop a one-handed, as opposed to two-handed, backhand, is Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. Having struggled with a back injury and plummeted from world No 3 to 33, Tsitsipas is fast regaining form in Doha.
He convincingly defeated 11th seed Daniil Medvedev in round 2 in straight sets, acquiring his 100th ATP 500 match win.
Australian Alex De Minaur has shaken the Rotterdam monkey off his back in lifting the Amro trophy, in his third attempt as a finalist.
Canadian No 1 Felix Auger Alliasime, who had played almost flawless tennis in his semi against Alexander Bublik, was a shadow of his former self, taking two medical timeouts and capitulating in record time to De Minaur 3- 6 2-6.
While so much success on tour is dependent on serving prowess ― Brazilian next-gen player Joao Fonseca is back to winning ways in the Rio Masters after an injury timeout and served seven aces, racked up 84% first serves and never faced a break point against Thiago Monteira ― the ability to wield the volley as a weapon is equally important.
Hence Sinner’s surprising signing to play doubles with American Reilly Opelka in the pending Indian Wells Masters 1000.
The Italian realises that despite the brilliance of his sledgehammer baseline game, he must be equally comfortable at the net to keep the world No 1 at bay.
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