Game, set, manicure: A day in the life at the AO Styling Suites

Beyond the locker rooms and practise areas, past the state-of-the-art gym and café, an unexpected touch of indulgence awaits in the hidden-away folds of the Players Area.

The AO Styling Suites, accessible by appointment only, is a calming space not dissimilar to a day spa. This is where players can come before their match or on their day off for a trim, a manicure, or even a rejuvenating facial treatment, if they so fancy.

The moment I step inside the AO Styling Suites, a sense of peace immediately descends. The rest of the world drops away; I could stay here all day long. The serenity is largely due to the two women running the show – Gidget and Debbie, Australian Open Styling Suites gurus for the past 28 years.

“We started [with just] the two of us,” Debbie says, pointing between herself and Gidget. “And now there’s a team of nine,” Gidget chimes in. “We’ve got barbers, we’ve got girls doing nails, we’ve got hairdressers [and] hair stylists.”

That’s just the beginning. The beauty bar offers a menu of services including the above as well as facial treatments, fake tan application, waxing, make up, pedicures and even hair colouring.

“One girl came in yesterday and hadn't had [her hair] done since last year,” says Gidget. “I said to her, ‘gee, your colour still looks lovely’ and she said ‘oh, you did it last year.’

“She said, ‘I was so scared to get it done anywhere else’, and I … thought that's really lovely.”

Finding a trusted beauty therapist or hairdresser is like finding your soulmate; once you find them, you never want to let go. There’s so much more that goes into these treatments than the perfect hair cut or glowing facial. It’s the trust and rapport between the players and the AO Styling Suites team that keeps the players eager to return year after year.

“The relationships that we've built with the players and seeing everybody … asking how [their] year was. Just reconnecting … that familiarity for them, seeing that just fills my heart,” says Debbie fondly.

“When they come back, it's the big question: ‘how's your year been?’” says Gidget. “We interact and have that moment with them … whenever you [treat] some of the players, doesn't matter whether it's Novak or whether it's [world No.]320, they're all special for me.”

The relationships Debbie and Gidget foster with the players is what has the competitors lining up outside their doors every morning at 10am, waiting to receive their treatment. “The players are grateful,” says Debbie. “You can see they just come in and they're lovely and they're nice to us, and it's [because of the] relationship that we formed.”

The AO Styling Suites has come a long way since its humble beginnings. “Oh, you wouldn’t believe it,” says Gidget. “From the beginning, we had a little room … It was tiny and I just had a comb and a water spray. Debbie did the beauty section.”

“The same, just had a bed,” says Debbie. “Just a bit of wax and some facial products.

“We'd bring flowers from home and set up the room to try and make it look beautiful. And we do pretty much what we're doing today … the rooms just became bigger and bigger [with] more staff and more services.”

The space now is beautiful, a culmination of luxury, beauty and sport, with rich-coloured walls, soft lighting and plush furniture. Low-fi music plays at a gentle volume, and there are treatment rooms partially obscured from sight. It's a far cry from the miniscule dressing rooms Debbie and Gidget operated from 28 years ago.

“Back in the day, the players were just sporty and training, and now they're evolving. Girls want to look pretty; boys want to have haircuts and look smart. The demand's there, so we offer it,” says Gidget.

It’s widely known that athletes can be superstitious. For instance, when a player wins a final wearing red socks, they might continue to wear red socks for every important match. Or they might dine at the same restaurant the night before a tournament starts for the exact same reason.

This superstitious behaviour can even extend to beauty regimes. “Whether it's a braid or they've had their nails [painted] with red, then they'll come back and redo it every day,” Debbie confirms.

After over a quarter of a century, it’s clear as day that the pair are still so passionate about their roles within AO Styling Suites during the Grand Slam.

“I said to Deb, what are we gonna do if we're not doing tennis in January?” says Gidget. “She said, ‘I don't think I could be here … we might be doing a ski holiday in Switzerland so that we're not here,’” she laughs.

“But then she said to me, ‘oh no, we've gotta be here and we'll come and we'll watch.’”

“There is something very infectious about coming here every year,” says Debbie. “I just cannot start my year [another way] … I just love it.”

“We just live in the present,” says Gidget. “So, every year is like our last one, and I give it my all thinking, well, this could be the last, and then if next year comes along again, well then that's another bonus.”

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