Why tennis stars bring their dogs on tour

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As the world’s best tennis players descend on Melbourne for the Australian Open, we look at how some of them are finding love on and off court.

Pet HealthHealth and vitality

Increasingly, the world’s top tennis players are relying on canine love, support and cuddles while they battle it out on the gruelling pro circuit. US sisters Venus and Serena Williams, Serbian Novak Djokovic, Richard Gasquet of France and even the stoic Scot Andy Murray are taking their favourite pooch along when competing in Europe and United States – although England, Asia, the Middle East and Australia are not so celebrity dog-friendly.

But they aren’t the first to recognise the benefits of taking their best furry friend on the road. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova, who travelled with her fox terrier KD (“Killer Dog”) for 16 years, says that having a pet courtside provides players with much-needed emotional support.

“You’re trying to bring some kind of normalcy to a very abnormal lifestyle — some kind of consistency and constancy,” she told The New York Times in 2009.
In the high-pressure world of professional tennis, dogs provide companionship and love to balance the intense scrutiny of coaches and managers. For highly pampered players, it’s also healthy for them to care for something other than their own ego.
“Ultimately, it’s [about] just being normal,” says Liezel Huber, an American doubles player, who has a Jack Russell called Sam – a gift from Navratilova. “I’m my happiest when I’m kind of relaxed, at peace and switched off,” Huber says. “And with the dog, that’s what happens.”

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A new generation of female tennis players from Eastern Europe is now injecting some Kardashian-style glamour into the practice of top seeds travelling with their dogs – a tradition which dates back to the days of Billie Jean King.

For Ukrainian player Kateryna Bondarenko, 30, her most important accessory on tour is a Louis Vuitton bag containing Princess, a tiny chihuahua she spotted in a Parisian shop. “It’s never boring with her,” she says. “Princess is really cute, really funny.”
Two of the most successful female players from Belarus, Olga Govortsova, 28, and Victoria Azarenka, 27, regularly take their dogs onto the practice courts and into the player’s lounges when on tour in the United States. Azarenka, currently ranked 12th in the world, has a Yorkie called Rolexx.

But more seasoned dog-loving players such as Venus and Serena Williams claim that tournament officials and staff are making it increasingly difficult to take their beloved pets to major events such as the United States Open. Other competitions, including the Miami Open and the French Open, have already banned dogs.

Venus Williams, who travels with a Havanese called Harold, admits that she has sometimes resorted to subterfuge to sneak her beloved Cuban mutt past the prying eyes of match officials. “They don’t know he’s there,” she says.
Despite the current mania for celebrity tennis dogs, Melburnians are unlikely to see Andy Murray walking his border terriers, Maggie May and Rusty, along Collins Street or Richard Gasquet cavorting with his Alsatian Ganso in the Fitzroy Gardens during the 2017 Australian Open. “Australia has very tough quarantine regulations,” says a Tennis Australia spokesperson, “so I don’t see that happening.”

But that doesn’t mean the players will be starved of pet affection while they’re here. “Many players love animals, so they are offered the chance to meet native animals like koalas, kangaroos and snakes,” says the spokesperson.

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