Tennis stars are courting style experts

Jun 26 2008 by Emma Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

CONFESSION to make. I don’t know or care that much about tennis. Correction, I know that Goran Ivanisevic is fit and Jean Michael Gambill (big star circa 2002) is so gorgeous it was all I could do not to lick him when I was sent to interview him.

But, player aesthetics aside, I don’t pay an awful lot of attention to our second favourite summer sport.

When, as a young reporter, a national newspaper sent me out to doorstep the family of Ormskirk-born Barry Cowan, who was at that moment giving it the David and Goliath up against Pete Sampras, I not only had to ask “who is Barry Cowan?” but was not entirely sure who Sampras was, either.

However, this week, I, along with fashion editors up and down the country, have found myself drawn to the sport. And while it is nice to see some Brits doing well (or at least they were at the time of writing) my interest is less to do with the players’ serves and more to do with their style.

Because the fashion world has invaded SW19 . . . in a big way.

On Monday, there were raised eyebrows when Serena Williams stepped onto court in a Nike-designed white trenchcoat which she kept on for her warm-up despite the blazing sunshine. She later admitted the mac was “definitely not athletic attire”.

But the biggest fuss was reserved for world No. 2 and 2004 winner Maria Sharapova, left. Some 24 hours before she arrived at the All England Club, speculation was rife about what she was going to wear.

In the event, she ditched the flirty skirts – to male fans’ chagrin – for an all-in-one tuxedo-style vest and shorts combination, making up for the loss of leg on display with a series of see-through panels. Naturally, the outfit ensured her maximum column inches at both the front and back of our newspapers.

Of course, this is not the first time female fashion held our focus at Wimbledon. Beauties like Maria and fellow Russian Anna Kournikova have always put together their court outfits as carefully as they would their red carpet ensembles, and Venus and Serena have never been shrinking violets on the style front.

In fact, female tennis players have been having specific outfits tailored for them as far back as 1860 with bustles and furs de rigueur back then. In the 1920s, Coco Chanel turned her eye to tennis, and in 1949 it was the lace-trimmed pants of “gorgeous Gussie” Morgan making the headlines.

However, not since John McEnroe’s headbands and Agassi’s ponytail has the male players’ attire caused as much fuss as it is doing this year.

Five-time men’s champion and current favourite Roger Federer strolled onto court on Monday looking distinctly Fred Perry-like in his cardigan, and then Rafael Nadal popped up with his pirate-look.

With over a week and many more matches to go, it remains to be seen if we will see any truly scandalous styles, but, I have to say, if someone could convince the male stars that they would play much better with their shirts off, that would be all white by me.