58. TOWELS!

What tennis player doesn’t love a nice towel – especially when it is free and is given to you for simply taking part in an event?

Many of the WTA and higher level ITF tournaments give the players towels bearing the name of the tournament, the sponsor, the year etc, and these are always appreciated. They are not only a nice momento for the players but they also come in extremely handy both on and off the court. They save the player the hassle of having to remember to pack a towel before travelling and I have no doubt, the presence of complimentary towels at some tournaments may also save local hotels quite a bit of money, in terms of them not having to replace towels borrowed by players for matches but them not always being returned!

Not all tournaments are so generous however, and some will either offer no towel at all (their prerogative), or will give one to the player but insist on its’ return as soon as the match is over. Tough if your player wants to shower post match.

Some of the Grand Slams are exceedingly generous when it comes to towels and will give the player a new one each time she goes on court. The Australian Open for example, knows no bounds. A few years back. my player went on to play a Junior match and received two towels. The match was suspended for rain a few times but each time she went back on court she received two more towels. She was given 6 in total for just one match and by the end of the tournament she had accumulated 14! Now some of these she gave to friends and spectators who had come to watch, but the remainder were packed away and brought back to the UK as souvenirs and are still being used to this day.

Other Slams are not so generous. The French Open gave no branded towels to the Juniors when my player was there – or at least certainly not in the early rounds. Likewise , the US Open and Wimbledon provided only plain white towels to the qualifiers. You had to earn your right to a tournament towel by securing a place in the Main Draw.

Wimbledon however, are extremely generous in other areas, and certainly when my player played there, the Club gave each and every person in the Main Draw, an envelope which contained a voucher (of significant value) to use in the Wimbledon Shop – a gesture not seen at any of the other Slams – at least at that time. This meant that players could buy towels, or any other kind of memorabilia to take home with them as a reminder of their part in the Championships that year. A really nice touch and greatly appreciated by the players.

The higher up your player goes on the tour, the more likely she is to receive gifts donated by the tournament sponsors. She may receive something alongside her trophy if she makes a final or there may be a sponsors gift for everyone who takes part. Some of the gifts are very generous – for example, my player recently received a cashmere scarf for winning a W60 in Switzerland. Others however are more practical, for example, a box full of sanitary items at a WTA250 event in Tunisia. A useful, if somewhat surprising gift, but nevertheless appreciated!

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