Trims, close cuts, manicures, maintenance, repair work, precise lines, hydration... It’s not just the 100 per cent Perennial Ryegrass courts that get the full grooming service in the business of keeping up immaculate appearances at Wimbledon.
Just as busy as the Grounds staff and the court service teams who tend the iconic emerald sward are those who work in the official Championships hairdressing salon.
With windows overlooking the elegant tea lawn of the Competitors’ Facilities, the salon is open from 10am to 6pm, with an appointment book that caters for more than 45 appointments a day. Karina Swann, a master barber, manages a team that includes Gemma Rolfe, a full-time nail technician, and 10 ladies’ stylists who specialise in big bouncy blow dries.
Swann can claim to be in the record books herself as the first barber employed at a Grand Slam. A specialist in beard work, she took over the whole shampoo-and-scissors op in 2019 but the hallmark of her dedication is the classic reclining barber’s chair she insisted on installing for The Championships for her particular expertise.
“It tilts back fully so I can do proper shaving,” she says. “There’s a lot of beardwork with the players and their team. They like to keep their facial hair very short so I am shaving in precise lines to keep it neat.”
There’s a palpable buzz in the room that contains two basins, two ladies’ stylist stations and the barber’s chair. No room to swing a cat or a phantom racket… “And I work with a cut-throat razor,” says Swann, with a wry glint in her eye.
Next year, the team will move to a bigger space as demand is higher than ever. This year lots of Wimbledon debutants have sat in her barber’s chair, alerted to the service by Dan Bloxham, master of ceremonies, and Greg Rusedski, a regular client. One young American doubles player Facetimed his mother to show her how well he was being spruced up.
Swann has built up a good rapport with Novak Djokovic over the years. He used to pop in and out as often as he was scheduled to play, to keep his hair trimmed “just so”, almost as a superstition. But this year his coiffeuse reports a more mellow seven-time champion.
He used to be in every second day, but now it’s just two or three times a tournament
“He’s chilled out a lot. He used to be in every second day, but now it’s just two or three times a tournament,” she says. “And he books in, three days in advance.”
For both male and female competitors, the salon is a place to relax and enjoy a bit of pampering. Many of the female players have long blonde hair that needs sun-damage repair work. “They obviously wash it a lot. So we do lots of cuts to help with the breakage and give them a nice blow dry to make them feel good.”
It’s also a place for players to forget the technical side of their game and simply enjoy some banter in the spirit of The Championships. “Players have sometimes asked me to carve something in the back of Novak’s hair as a joke,” she laughs, “but I tell them I just can’t!”
Meanwhile, at the nail bar, Rolfe has lost track of the number of strawberry motifs she’s put on nails. The Club colours of white, purple and green have been other top requests. “Or a French manicure with green or purple tips.”
The defending ladies’s singles champion Barbora Krejcikova arrived early for a hair cut and nails, opting for a natural look.
“A lot of the women's doubles players come in for nails, because the cameras like to focus on their hands. Some of our work has ended up in the newspaper," says Rolfe.
Just as players who reach the finals have to prepare for an epic seventh match, so too does Swann’s team. For the ladies’ final, the Ball Girls are treated to Dutch and French plaits and the flower girls have blooms in their hair to add to the sense of occasion,
“They line up here, 10 at a time, and we have a production line of sectioning, plaiting and hair-spraying them within an inch of their lives. Most of the boys don’t want their hair touched but we get some product on them. Hair can’t flop around!”
That really would be a hair-raising scenario. As ever, it’s all about the attention to detail.