World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka has begged the All England Club to reverse its ban on players bringing their dogs onto site at Wimbledon.
Although many star names now travel with their pets, the All England Club only permits service dogs and search dogs to enter the grounds, with Wimbledon chief Sally Bolton confirming before the tournament that their rules had been communicated to the players before the start of this year’s Championships. The players were informed that any dogs who were currently travelling Europe would have to stay at home during the tournament.
Sabalenka celebrated with her puppy Ash after winning the Miami Open this season, while French Open champion Mirra Andreeva recently celebrated on court with her coach Conchita Martinez’s puppy Luna after winning her first grand slam title at Roland Garros. Marta Kostyuk, Anastasia Potapova and Anna Kalinskaya were among the other players to bring their dogs into player areas at the French Open, where the policy is far more relaxed.
The French Open even employed two dedicated dog walkers as part of its player support services, as well as sitters to look after the pets when their owners were playing matches. Sabalenka said having Ash by her side during an event was like “meditation”, with many players saying pets can offer emotional support and companionship during long and often stressful tournaments.
Wimbledon chief executive Bolton said before the start of the tournament that she did not foresee the All England Club’s policy on pets being a problem, but Sabalenka would like to see a chance in the future and promised that Ash, which she called a “little fluffy thing”, would not create a disturbance by running around the grounds.
“Well, I can understand why they made this decision. Obviously if the dog does something wrong inside of this historical place, probably going to take a bit of time to replace. They’re probably afraid of damages inside,” the world No 1 said.
“I have to say all of our dogs are very well-trained. They’re not going to do anything wrong inside of this beautiful building. We have to change that.
“It just sometimes hurts [me] to leave him at the house by himself. He really get attached a lot. He suffers staying alone. It really hurts my feeling.
“It’s just like a little fluffy thing that always want cuddle and love. Going to the park with him, walking around, is also like some sort of meditation for me. Wimbledon, please, I beg you, let the dogs inside.”
Before the start of Wimbledon, chief executive Bolton confirmed: “The only dogs that we permit on site are service dogs and those security and search dogs. We’re in constant communication with the players and we don’t anticipate that being a problem, but that’s our policy and it always has been.”
