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Meet the Centre Court aristowags: Sport’s top-seeded wives and girlfriends

By
Charlotte Pearson Methven

PUBLISHED:

18:01 EST, 31 May 2014

|

UPDATED:

18:01 EST, 31 May 2014

Forget Coleen and co – this summer will be game, set and match to the tennis wags, says Charlotte Pearson Methven

Kim Sears with Andy Murray

Jelena Ristic and her fiancé Novak Djokovic

Maria Xisca Perello with her boyfriend Rafael Nadal

It was a funny thing when Andy Murray held the Wimbledon trophy aloft last summer, the first British man to do so in 77 years. The collective glare was, of course, primarily on the grunting Scotsman. But it is notable how swiftly it diverted to his pretty girlfriend of eight years, Kim Sears – an ever-supportive presence by his side.

With her swishily perfect hair, occasion-appropriate attire (think Jigsaw, Reiss, Whistles), devotion to the two border terriers she shares with Andy, and unerring knack for never putting a foot wrong, it’s no wonder Andy’s mum has described 26-year-old Kim as ‘the best thing that ever happened’ to him.

While footballers’ wives have generated raunchy reality shows chronicling their designer shopping sprees and boozed-up ladies’ nights, the tennis wags, epitomised by Kim, are a far more dignified breed, as proper as Centre Court itself. No spray tans, TV appearances or vulgar labels for these girls. No, the tennis wag is happy to eschew the limelight in sensible footwear and keep her head down. The last thing she wants is to be a distraction.

Marta Tornel with her long-term boyfriend David Ferrer

Mirka and Roger Federer

More head girl than aspiring model, she is in the mould of a royal wife-in-waiting rather than a Premiership wag. The comparisons between Kim and the Duchess of Cambridge are impossible to ignore: Home Counties girls (Kim from Sussex, Kate from Berkshire) with perfect hair and even temperaments, who are as loyal as the dogs they dote on (a not-so-subtle advertisement for their maternal instinct) and, crucially, are willing to play the romantic equivalent of a very drawn-out five-set match…

Kate famously stuck it out for eight years before getting William to put a ring on it, earning her the (rather mean) title Waity Katie. Kim is playing a similarly long game. Steadfast and unflappable, she even laughed along with Andy when he made a faux engagement announcement on Twitter in January, before swiftly announcing he was joking (oh, the humiliation!). Both Kim and Kate have endured brief break-ups, which they bore stoically – never talking, never complaining and, crucially, never looking too desperate.

But although Kim is perhaps the most perfect embodiment of the prototype, the tennis aristowag has earlier roots. Consider the former First Lady of British tennis, Tim Henman’s wife Lucy, a Boden blonde of Sloane Ranger stock who used to hold court in the players’ box in blazers and court shoes that could have come straight out of Kate’s closet.

‘Tennis wags are a more dignified breed – no spray tans of vulgar labels for them’

Then there’s Roger Federer’s wife Mirka, with her sensible locks, button-down shirts and stoic expressions that convey her singular focus on her man’s performance, much like Kate accompanying William on an official duty. Ambition – of one’s own, that is – is a dirty word in the tennis wag lexicon, much as it is among royal consorts (remember the horror when Sophie Wessex tried to run her own PR firm?).

Perhaps the regal bearing of the tennis wag owes to the fact that bagging a top-seed player – of whom there are precious few, compared with ten-a-penny footballers – is a standout achievement, not dissimilar to landing a prince. As such, the honour – the appearances in the players’ box, the international travel and big pay cheques – merits a higher standard of behaviour.

Or perhaps the players, because of their unremitting schedules, know they have to choose an unstarry kind of girl to have by their side, someone who – like Kate in her Waity Katie days – will be happy to dip into work-lite, rather than pressing on with something more go-getting. Artist Kim’s animal portrait business is reminiscent of Kate’s part-time stint at Jigsaw – uncontroversial and girlie, but not in a hungry, threatening, launch-my-own-lingerie-or-handbag-line kind of way.

So while the World Cup wags will be heading to Brazil in their body-baring outfits and lashings of make-up, we can look forward to this oh-so-appropriate crew lighting up – but not too much – the perfectly manicured courts of SW19 later this month.

TOP-SEEDED PARTNERS

Kim Sears

Andy Murray’s partner of eight years, Kim was born into the tennis world. Her father Nigel is a former pro turned women’s coach. Kim
has a degree in English literature, but her real passion is art – when
she’s not following Andy she works as an animal portrait artist and
writes a blog (as well as keeping a Twitter account on behalf of their dog Maggie).

Jelena Ristic

Has
been with Serbian star Novak Djokovic for eight years. The pair got
engaged last September and recently announced they are expecting their
first child. They met at a tennis training facility in their native
Serbia when they were both teens. She is now chief executive of the
Novak Djokovic Foundation, which helps disadvantaged Serbian children.
They live in Monte Carlo. He calls her ‘the biggest support in my life’,
and she is never absent from a big match.

Mirka Federer

Has
been married to Swiss player Roger Federer for five years, having met
him during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. A former top-100 women’s player
herself, she gave up tennis in 2002 and became his PR manager, always
travelling with him on tour. The pair have four-year-old identical twin
daughters Myla and Charlene, and recently welcomed twin sons Lenny and
Leo.

Marta Tornel

Long-term
girlfriend of Spanish player David Ferrer, Marta is trained as an
optometrist in her native Spain and works for her family business as an
optician. Though very photogenic, she never talks to the press and
rarely makes public appearances. Ferrer has referred to her as his
‘future wife’, so watch this space!

Maria Xisca Perello

Rafael Nadal’s girlfriend of eight years hails from the same town in Majorca as him and is
known by friends as Xisca. She has a business degree and works for a
Majorcan insurance firm, so does not follow Nadal to every tournament. A
mutual friend describes them as ‘very shy and ordinary people’, adding
that ‘they are not interested in the celebrity lifestyle. They get
together when a tournament is over. That’s how Raf winds down.’

Sara Foster

This
American actress is German player Tommy Haas’s wife of four years,
after they were allegedly introduced by actress Kate Hudson. Despite
having appeared in shows such as 90210 and Entourage, former model Sara is not the attention-seeking type, once saying, ‘You’re never going to see me wearing lots of make-up, in some little outfit with my [breasts] sticking out’, though she was once criticised for chewing gum at Wimbledon.

Additional images: Xclusive Pix, PA Archive, Pacific Coast News, Corbis, Camera Press, goffphotos.com, wenn.com, matrixpictures.co.uk, Getty Images, Famous, xposurephotos.com

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hippychick,

dublin, Ireland,

35 minutes ago

god, all as boring and lacking independence as Waitey Katie. yawn.

acoll23,

London, United Kingdom,

1 hour ago

All very classy, take a note ‘WAGS’ i.e. attention- seeking idiots

expat,

Chalais, France,

1 hour ago

These ladies are far more classy than footballers wives and girlfriends.

Hold on there,

Here,

1 hour ago

What a silly article! Leave them alone I’m sure they do not want to be listed alongside Coleen and Alex G.

The Great Wazoo,

London, United Kingdom,

2 hours ago

Jessica Michibata. F1 wags are stunning and yes she is independently successful and wealthy. Actually it’s only footy wags that let the side down.

MelodyInChrist,

Birmingham, United Kingdom,

2 hours ago

For some reason, wives/girlfriends of tennis players seem so different to footballers’ wives/girlfriends example. They all seem to do something with their lives, instead of just living off their partner. Something if meaning, for themselves and others. They seem intelligent women, not fussed about fake tan, the latest Louboutins

LAG,

High Wycombe, United Kingdom,

3 hours ago

Kate Middleton isn’t a wag – she married a Prince and will one day be consort to a King and is the mother of an heir to the throne. Some people just can’t help being nasty – chin up, sun’s out just try looking on the bright side of life.

MrsB,

Lincoln, United Kingdom,

3 hours ago

These WAGs in tennis have what those groupies of the same title in football don’t as the saying goes ‘you can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear’.

kate,

austria, Austria,

3 hours ago

Well done, DM! You have managed to belittle these women and bring them down to Kate Midlleton’s empty-headed level, while they are anything but. They have done and still do much more than Kate and try as you might, they will never be as shallow and lazy as she is. Nadal’s girlfriend works and has a business degree, Djokovic’s girlfriend runs his charity and actually does something for disadvatageous children, Mirka had both tennis and business successes of her own before becoming a mother of four and Marta is a trained optometrist – how can you even think of comparing them to Kate, who just wears expensive clothes? Totally silly and extremely childish PR article.

2 of 5 repliesSee all replies

kate,

austria, Austria,

1 hour ago

LAG – Blame DM for writing an article that put Kate up for comparison with women who have done something with their lives.

LAG,

High Wycombe, United Kingdom,

50 minutes ago

Kate – you’re quite right it is the DM’s fault but why must the anti Kates have to react like a red rag to a bull. Leave the girl alone, she doesn’t hurt animals or children in fact the opposite the DM is just looking for a replacement to Diana to sell their papers. Kate doesn’t court the DM’s publicity so why should you be so personal about someone you don’t know?

DuchessSomerset,

West Country,

5 hours ago

Why does kate have to be dragged into everything??? Kim is by far my preferred option. Unassuming and her own person.

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