Iconic Photos
Her True Self: Portraits of Players
Radka Leitmeritz, a Los Angeles-based Czech fashion photographer, collaborated with the WTA in Indian Wells prior to the postponed tournament in March. A number of leading players feature in this #HerTrueSelf photographic collection, accompanied by Radka's own words.
01
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When I saw Maria Andreescu sitting in the player box at the US Open, I thought, this is so great to see someone enjoy the success of your daughter, Bianca. But behind it are these really sweet people who are working their butt off to get there.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
02
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I totally understand that they want to be dolled up because they live in sweatpants and tennis clothes. This is different. We are trying to capture them in different ways. In a stylish way, in a private way, in an intimate way.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
03
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I shot Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird for the ESPN Body Issue. Their bodies are their tools. They have bodies that are living something, doing something. I want to work with athletes. It was a really important moment for me.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
04
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Barbora Strycova is my tennis muse. I shoot her all the time. All these girls think oh, Barbora just takes good pictures. What they don't understand is the energy she puts into it. That's why everyone wants to shoot her.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
05
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Barbora has the gift to make you feel like she's just there for you. In front of the camera they give you the inspiration that you are the most important director or photographer to them and they give you exactly what you want. It's amazing.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
06
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I love Garbiñe Muguruza. This was a little moment in the parking lot. But I hope this little moment captures something about her.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
07
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A good portrait for me is when I can capture something about the soul of the person. But it depends on how much the people are willing to collaborate. You can get a great portrait of someone in one second.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
08
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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Players are like artists. You train and work all your life. You lose all the time because no one wants your stuff. You still have to work. One day, somebody wants it. But you're not always able to deliver it so you feel pressure.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
09
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These girls work so hard. No one believes in you. But you keep going. I found so many similarities and I have so much respect for them.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
10
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I was really happy that Sofia Kenin let us come to her hotel. She was stranded, literally spending her days in the hotel. Her day was done. She asked me what should I do? Just be yourself. I just want to shoot you here, as you are.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
11
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I think the misconception coming from the fashion world is that everyone is going to look like a top model. Everyone is beautiful and I like to capture something really personal about them in a different environment.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
12
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Donna Vekic. I'm free from the history or knowing too much about them. This is a privileged situation. Shooting a person who is very famous that you don't know is the best. I just see them, I feel a certain energy.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
13
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Big thanks to @racquetmag for hosting some of our WTA players at the Racquet House for the WTA x Radka collab #HerTrueSelf.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
14
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You have to be close to the person. To be able to get a good portrait or a good photograph of someone, you have to have the connection with the person. You have to be there. The shoot with Ajla Tomljanovic was straight off the practice court.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
15
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Gabriela Dabrowski. I don’t see players just as performing athletes, I see them as people. I wish I could sit on the net when they play. When they serve, I would like to be underneath them. It’s so frustrating not being able to step on the court.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
16
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You have a moment with someone like Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is just a really powerful kind of woman. But in front of the camera, it's just you and me. You can strip down, in a way. It's intimate.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
17
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Amanda Anisimova. This kind of photography is not the kind where you observe something going on and you capture it. I sometimes move people around to create something I can see. My work is to capture it in the most beautiful and real way possible.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
18
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Aryna Sabalenka. You play tennis all day long and you lose all the time. You wake up and do it again, and again, and again since you were five years old. I don't believe they really play for money at this level. I don't believe it for one second.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
19
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We were going with the flow. But that was the idea. Sometimes they came to me at the Racquet House, sometimes I went to them. I would find the personality of all these players and get to love them. You have to love the person you shoot.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
20
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Maria Sakkari. When I shoot a woman, my passion is to capture them as beautiful and real as possible. My eye is trained in this. I see beauty in everything. Not just the visual beauty, but the beauty of emotions, of all things happening around the sport.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
21
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With Daria Kasatkina, we went to her practice. She was sitting and smiling. I said: "You don’t have to smile, just be yourself." It’s not about winning always, that’s a tiny part of their lives. So when I photograph them, that’s not what I’m looking for.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
22
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Karolina Muchova. Players are muses. I found many similarities in our lives. I never realized they are like rock stars. They are always on tour. They fly with all their equipment, sleep in hotels, hop on another plane, and go to another city.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
23
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Petra Martic. It was a great experience, and maybe it was great this way, that I had little time and they were not under tournament pressure. So it was a bit more relaxed. It was a tournament without the tournament emotions. It was a concept tournament.
Photo by Radka Leitmeritz
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