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The Championships’ Hairdresser reports her busiest ever year – and that is saying something because Novak Djokovic, one of her most regular clients, was knocked out before the first of his traditional weekly trims.
There was even a year when he came in every other day, out of superstition because he was enjoying a strong run. “He only ever wants a tiny bit off to keep his look consistent,” she said at the time. “He has very strong, coarse hair and, because it sticks up naturally, he would notice growth quickly – but definitely not in two days!”
This year marks Suzanne Strong’s 34th as the official snipper and styler to the tennis stars. In each of her annual stints with the scissors and tongs, she accrues more players who, out of habit or superstition, return the following year. Her appointments book contains players of all eras – from Virginia Wade and Martina Navratilova to Mirka Federer and John Isner.
The 6ft 10in American presented the challenge of the tournament when he popped in for a haircut. “I couldn’t reach the front of his head from behind the chair,” laughed Suzanne. “We have chairs we can pump up, but I couldn’t get it down low enough. I needed a box!”
The Hairdresser and Nail Bar has been open from 11am to 6pm every day since the week of the Qualifying tournament. “We came in a week early this year because there was such demand during the week before the tournament, when the players come in to pick up their photo passes and practise,” says Suzanne.
She lists deep-conditioning treatments and hair straightening as the most requested salon services over the last three weeks. As far as news from the Nail Bar goes, Suzanne reveals that lime green has been the most popular colour for manicures. “The other notable thing is that far fewer players have asked for nail transfers or diamante. Last year we applied lots of little tennis ball stickers, but most of the girls have just wanted straightforward colour.”
Ever modest, Suzanne takes some time to admit that 2016 will also be her last year as tonsorial supremo. She is handing over the day-to-day running to Maria di Gregorio. “She has worked with me here for 25 years, so she has certainly served her apprenticeship,” she jokes. “It makes sense. More than seven of the girls who work here come from her salon in Reading. But I’m not retiring yet. I’m more than happy to come in for a few days for a few more years.”
Suzanne’s 34 years at the AELTC begin at a point when most of the current players were either not yet born or were toddling around with little awareness of tennis. Remarkably, player hair trends have changed little – the women have always either had extremely long or extremely short hair: “They never have anything in-between because it's too difficult to keep securely off their face.”
“I have seen more changes in the position of my salon than anything else. At first we had one hairdresser in each of the three ladies’ changing rooms, but one of us could be rushed off our feet while another had nothing to do. Then the club converted a cupboard on the side of No.2 Court and three of us squeezed in to a place that really only held two. One year it got so hot with all the hair dryers, the temperature set off the smoke alarm and the Fire Brigade rushed in!”
The millennium ushered in a new salon next to the Competitors’ Lawn. “It was brilliant because there was room for men and women. All my team could work together and in a comfortable space.” The standard set meant that, whereas Wimbledon and then the French Open were historically the only tournaments to offer a hairdressing salon, many ATP and WTA events now boast professional stylists. In 2009, the head of the hairdressing team from the Australian Open travelled over to inspect her pioneering set-up and left green with envy at Suzanne's two fully plumbed basins and three mirror-and-chair stations.
