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.