There are two young, lithe, stupendously tall girls in the Gold Shop at Dubai Duty Free in Terminal 3, and they're not exactly dressed for comfortable travel. They're in tiny dresses, skyscraper heels, with hair styled in a way that can only be described as quiff-couture and trowel-loads of hot pink make-up. And they're screaming with uncontrollable laughter.
What makes this scene endearing is that the girls in question tennis stars Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka are laughing at themselves. They were the first of the WTA players to participate in the two-day fashion shoot at the airport, and they took in the event with a mixture of anxiety, good cheer and camaraderie.
Asked by an increasingly exasperated photographer and shoot director to act angry, fierce and pull at each other's jewellery as if they were fighting in front of an audience of surprised duty-free shoppers the two friends collapse into giggles every time they caught sight of the other's quiff.
"It's too funny," Azarenka says as she tries to catch her breath. "It's hard to act angry off the court. Can we do something like we like each other? At the end?"
It's fascinating to see the friendships that exist on the ten-month tour. While an outsider might think it's a lonely, competitive existence where you have more rivals than mates, Wozniacki and Azarenka are quick to dispel that myth.
"It's a great life we have," says Danish star Wozniacki. "We play tennis and that's what I love to do and to be able to live from your hobby is just great.
"I have a lot of friends on the tour, Victoria is one of my best friends. It's nice to have some good friendships on the tour."
Azarenka, sitting nearby having her hair styled, shoots back a retort. "We're friends?" Wozniacki pauses for a moment. "So you're not one of my good friends?"
"Well, I'm one of yours. But I don't know if you're one of mine," deadpans Azarenka, before they both start to laugh.
"On the court, of course we want to win and we have the rivalry, but once we're off the court we're good friends again," says Wozniacki. "We eat dinner we go to the movies, we go shopping."
Azarenka adds that she's planning a holiday with some of her tennis mates. "It's normal for us — we compete, we see each other every week, so you get to know people. I like these girls and we always hang out."
Meet...
Caroline Wozniaki
The 20-year-old rising star looked the most comfortable on the shoot, and with good reason: only two days before, she'd been on another fashion shoot, as the face of Stella McCartney's range for adidas. The stunning blonde shares her fashion and beauty tips.
Shopping: "I like to shop in New York, that's my favourite place to shop. I like Stella McCartney and Danish designer Marlene Birger, as well as D&G, Louis Vuitton and Chanel.
Style off-court: "You'll never go wrong if you wear high heels and sunglasses. That's something I always wear. Or a cute dress. It depends if I'm doing something casual, then jeans and a cute top."
The Stella McCartney for adidas dress she wore during the Dubai tournament: "It's a nice dress. It's tighter in the front and it has a few frills and it's a bright colour. I think that suits me."
Good skincare: "I travel a lot, so it's important to take care of my skin. I use a lot of [anti-acne range] Proactiv, and I find that really helps. I found that if you cut down on chocolate and sweets then it really helps your skin. If I feel my skin is not starting to look great then I cut down on it. Anyway, I don't eat it a lot."
Make-up: "I wear this really cheap foundation from Poland [Wozniaki's father is Polish]. I get it always as a present from the Radwanska sisters. I usually only use some eyeliner, and some light mascara and the M.A.C bronzer, my favourite. On the court I don't use make-up."
Working with Stella: "Stella was looking for a new face for the line that she was doing and she had a look at some of the adidas girls and she picked me. I was just at a photo shoot in London for the new collection that will be used at French Open and Wimbledon. I can ask her for some nice dresses and she sends me some. She's really nice and she knows how to fit women's curves also. I just think it's feminine and still cool."
Victoria Azarenka
The Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships finalist (she lost out to Venus Williams) seemed to find the shoot harder work and less enjoyable than her friend Wozniaki. From having pins jabbed into her scalp to pins falling down the back of her dress, the experience looked pretty painful.
And as the handful of stylists, photographer and shoot director dressed, primped, shouted and hurried her to the shoot, Azarenka called for a time out.
"It's too fast. Just give me some time," she requested. The Belarussian player took us through her style and told us about the music that gets her going.
Dressing up: "I like to dress up, I have so many clothes that sometimes I just try them on in my room. I always have an extra case with me of going-out clothes."
Big spender: "I actually made a really big shopping day in Gucci this summer. I bought about 25 items — dresses, pants, T-shirts, sweaters, jackets. But if I see a thing I like, I'll just buy it — it doesn't depend on the label. It's one of the funnest things we can do on the tournaments — with all the travelling we do we can really go shopping with different things in different countries."
Her iPod: "Before matches, I listen to some club music like house or disco, it really gets me going. I have a good track called Stereo Love, it plays in all the clubs in Europe now."
Victoria wears:
Yellow sequin dress Dh18,595, Derek Lam at Boutique 1
Studded belt Dh165, Topshop
Shoes Dh3,470, Brian Atwood
Beaded braceletDh1,635, Arrogant Cat at ValleyDez
NecklaceFrom a selection at Dubai Duty Free Gold Souk
Caroline wears:
Orange asymmetric dressDh1,685, Foley & Corianna at S*uce
Belt Dh6,895, Reem Acra at Boutique 1
Crystal studded bootsDh3,399, Kurt Geiger
Necklace Dh810, NTK at Boutique 1
