Before his straight-sets first-round victory over Alexandre Müller on Monday, the American No 21 seed, Tommy Paul, stepped into the All England Club’s new recovery suite and laid down on a strange zigzag-shaped bed.
At that point, hydrogen gas was pumped through his nostrils and his body experienced multiwave light, pulsed electromagnetic and sound therapy – all from a £128,000 device called the Ammortal Chamber, which claims to be “the fastest way to reset, recharge and rejuvenate the body, mind and spirit”.
“It was cool,” he says, before looking a little sheepish. “I’m not sure what it does because I fell asleep. But it was great. I felt very rested for sure.”
Marc Violone, who co-owns the wellness company Recover and worked with Wimbledon to create its new recovery zone, is more descriptive. “The Ammortal combines five research-backed modalities to balance the body and mind,” he says.
“It is almost as an out-of-body experience, but not to the point where you’re over energised or too calm.”
Laura Robson, the former British No 1 who is now the player relations director at the All England Club, says that new wellness zone is an indication how players are increasingly focused on using science to aid performance.
Robson points to players such as Novak Djokovic, who has been able to stay at the top deep into his 30s when once upon a time players would often be considered past it on their 30th birthday.
“I remember playing in the US Open years and years ago, and it was the talk of the town that Novak was using a hyperbaric chamber,” she says.
“At that point, it felt so left-field. But I think he’s led the way. Recovery is helping people play longer. As the length of the calendar gets more strenuous, it’s about finding ways to make it to the end of the season without getting injured.
“Things have massively changed. Ice baths were already a thing, and still are a thing, but recovery wasn’t something that people thought about too much. You’d have either the tour physio or an ice bath and that was about it. But within the last two or three years, it has changed.
“It started with people travelling around with Normatec compression boots and it progressed from there. Now we’ve got these amazing facilities and we want to make sure we’re creating a space people feel is beneficial and is going above and beyond what they are used to.”
Robson points out that this year players will be able to use massage guns and compression boots to ease aching muscles, Game Ready devices that offer hot and cold compression therapy and a NuCalm headset designed to enhance sleep quality.
The new player wellness centre also offers nutritious food and coffee and Robson says a second floor will be added to the state-of-the-art gym next year.
Another US player, Jenson Brooksby, who also enjoyed a straight-sets win, is certainly a believer when it comes to the new recovery suite, which is in Wimbledon’s Millennium Building. “Every 1% can really help when we’re trying to make deep runs here,” he says. “So I’m glad to see it. I hope other tournaments follow suit.”
Violone says the science of recovery is evolving all the time – with a particular focus on helping players hit a “flow” state in matches. “We are focused on utilising research‑backed recovery technologies to help people with sleep, stress and soreness,” he says. “Because elite athletes need to recover in an elite way.
“We also know that when athletes are competing with tension, it has negative effects. They want to operate in a flow state, so keeping them in the zone mentally is a huge part of our focus in the recovery suite.”
It is a far cry from the days where players thought they played better after ranting and raving at officials. Speaking of which, have some of the past greats, such as John McEnroe, asked to use the suite?
“He’s not playing in the invitational matches this year, otherwise he’d be able to get into the recovery spaces,” Robson says. “But I’d be happy to show him where it is.”
