Wimbledon stars leave legacy of dirty towels and underwear

A SMALL mountain of dirty towels, stray underwear left in the washing machine or a pile of well-worn tennis shoes are some of the souvenirs landlords in south-west London often find when they return home after letting out their houses to players competing at Wimbledon.

“A Swedish player, who is now a coach, once left the house (he was renting) suddenly without informing anyone that he was leaving early,” Joanna Doniger, who runs a short-term letting agency that specialises in renting out private homes to players during the Wimbledon fortnight, told Reuters in an interview.

“The owner went back five days later and saw that there was an infestation of flies as it was a really hot summer and food had been left out to rot.

“She then went into what had been her white bathroom and it had turned green because there was mould growing everywhere. The player had left the hot shower running and the steam caused the mould growth. The owner was very, very upset and beyond angry.”

Doniger rents out about 150 properties every June through her company Tennis London.

In an area which lacks hotels, one-bedroom flats can earn £1,000 (€1,113) a week while a top-end, five-bedroom house has a price tag of £10,000 a week.

In the 17 years Doniger has been in the business, she has built up a client list that has included Pete Sampras, the Williams sisters, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Businessman Chris Lim was suitably excited when he discovered his home would be taken over by tennis royalty.

“I’m a keen tennis player myself and was very excited when I found out Roger Federer was staying here. I had another home before this one in Springfield Avenue up in the Village and he stayed there the first time he won Wimbledon. So he has stayed at two of my properties,” Lim told Reuters.

“Apparently his reason for staying here was because he liked my furniture — even if he did put it in the car park. I saw some pictures in the papers with my best leather chairs in the gravel drive. (I) did think that was a bit cheeky but there was no damage.

“This is where he slept,” Lim added showing off a dark-wood, four-poster bed dressed in pristine white linen.

“His coach at the time was staying with him and they did a lot of cooking. He left some food behind in the fridge. There seemed to be a lot of ingredients they had bought like chillies and spices. They were obviously cooking,” said Lim, who has also rented his flat to former top-10 American James Blake.

“There was also a lot of red wine consumed but whether that was Roger or his coach you’d never really know.”

Lim also found an unexpected stash had been left behind for him one year.

“I’m not sure if it was after Roger Federer or James Blake stayed here, but I came in through the front door and into the hallway and there was a stack of towels left there like a pyramid,” he said.

“Often owners come back and find a lot of tennis clothes left for them,” explained Doniger, whose company takes a 15% cut of each rental and turns over about half a million pounds a year.

“Tennis shoes, tennis balls, clothes, they are always leaving those behind. They are usually worn, left in the washing machine... forgotten. I once had Nadal’s knickers left behind,” she grinned.

During the Wimbledon fortnight, Doniger’s black Mini becomes the nerve centre of her business..

“The one thing they do want is blackout blinds. I have to go and put up blackout blinds.

“We travel in the car with yards and yards and yards of material for blackout blinds. We have scissors and Velcro and staple guns. Everything goes in the Mini.”