Aryna Sabalenka with Ash
Pro tennis players need a lot of things to excel: disciple, determination, good training—and nowadays, apparently, much emotional support from pets, as seen on viral Instagram feeds of top contenders during the French Open–Roland Garros tournament.
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Alexander “Sascha” Zverev, 29, current world no. 3 and former junior world no. 1, became the new Roland Garros Men’s Singles champion after a 5-set victory against 24-year-old Italian player (and good friend, and also surprise contender) Flavio Cobolli. But Zverev also went viral saying hello to fans with his adorable dachshund Mishka, for whom the tennis champ shares parenthood duties with his girlfriend Sophia Tomalla. The little sausage dog even as her own Instagram account, @mishkas_universe, where one recent photo showed her curled up in bed with her dad (aawwww).
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Meanwhile, the winner in the Roland Garros women’s singles just last June 6, 19-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva—the youngest singles women’s singles champ in three decades, since Monica Seles won in 1992 at 17 years old—also celebrated her win with a trophy in one hand and a cute white pup named Luna in the other, after she beat Maja Chwalinska. This was Andreeva’s maiden Grand Slam title, and that clip of her holding the two treasures has likewise gone viral.
That wasn’t her dog, however, but that of her coach, former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez. Andreeva’s own dog is a black labradoodle named Rassy—who, it turns out, has also toured with his mom and met and played with the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Ash (named after tennis legend Arthur Ashe) of current no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka, unfortunately, suffered an upset in the quarterfinals.
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The trend has gotten so crazy that this year, the New York Times reports, Roland Garros hired its first ever dog concierge, Melanie Gauthier Knopp, to coordinate everything, from feeding and excursions to massages for the players’ dogs. “The dogs are usually small—better for transporting—and some have achieved such a level of renown that the sight of them heralds the arrival of their human,” writes Ava Wallace in the article.
One can see why they’re appreciated, and even needed, notes Wallace: “Dogs also dole out kisses and cuddles whether or not their player has had a good day on court.” And in such a competitive, high-pressure sports circuit, that could mean everything.
