TENNIS AND STYLE

While the early years of tennis fashion reflected general fashion tendencies of the beginning of the 20th century, and the later count of the Open Era was characterized by tennis outfits being neutrally sporty and comparatively comfortable, in the course of its development clothes style of top tennis stars became a part of their personality and career. 

Lea Pericoli (Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 1965, 1967, 1970)
1961, Wimbledon

Tennis girls always wanted to resemble princesses or, at least, ballerinas, which is no surprising - girls are such girls! Some of the players back in the 60s already understood that if performance was not so outstanding to bring them to the top, at least their looks could make the history.

Rod Laver ( Triple Crown winner),  1962 and Roy Emerson 

These all-white T-shirts and shorts might be little or no different from the present-day classic male Wimbledon garments with the only accent on trousers-like fit of the shorts and their length. Being still classic and gentlemanly in cut, the shorts are starting to get shorter in the 60s.

Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, 1980, Wimbledon

B. Borg and J. McEnroe had a lot to say both in tennis and in fashion. The former having given his name to a successful tennis gear line. But, honestly, these super-cropped shorts make you wonder how they managed to move and not to have some disastrous failures.

Bjorn Borg, 1976
In his famous Fila pinstripe

Andree Agassi in style, early 90s

Who said long hair could be of any problem  to men in tennis? Both B. Borg in 80s and A.Agassi in 90s had little problem with it, which proves  the fact that tennis speeds were somewhat slower at the time.

A. Agassi, 1990

Andre Agassi was not only a top performance athlete but the most extravagant male player of his time. His denim shorts with showing underpants and bright headbands combined with wild hairdos made his every appearance sensatious. His famous refusal to comply with Wimledon "all-whites" rule shows that tennis is not all sport but fashion too. Agassi didn't provoke any revolutionary changes in tennis outfit fashion but made people speak of Nike.

Martina Navratilova, 1970 &1978

Tennis apparel is not only all lycra. There is still some room for sailing club style. Martina Navratilova's pointed collars were never in her way while winning Grand Slam titles. Neither were her teeny tiny shorts. Mini at its best. Martina was long dedicated to wearing marina tennis dresses.

Maria Sharapova, 2008, Wimbledon

Tuxedo style tennis top and tailored shorts - Maria obviously wanted to introduce some office style into tennis. So that you could put a classic jacket on top and conduct a business meeting. The shorts are still the same Rod Laver's best season period.

Anne White in a jumpsuit, Wimbledon 1985

This one-piece literally looks hot. Maybe it was made from special "breathing" lycra, but still must have caused pains in sweating and having a toilet break. Anyway, nobody risked to repeat the look ever since. She made a sensation at the time, but couldn't deal with it herself and, when prompted by the umpire to wear something more suitable the next day, she obeyed and lost her match.

Rafael Nadal, Roland Garros 2005

The short shorts of the 70s were too revealing and Nadal probably wanted to get away from that fashion or simply followed the general capri trend of the early 2000s. Still his capri-look was criticized by the fashion critics and gave him hard times on the clay as the shorts were too long and too white. He also had the same pair in black color, but eventually his shorts started to get shorter.

Roger Federer, Wimbledon 2009

Being a long-time ambassador of such luxurious brands like Rolex and Moet for many years, in 2009 Roger decided to bring some posh style into tennis, choosing the most sophisticated Wimbledon tournament for that. Not surprisingly, conservative Brits were more puzzled than impressed by his multiple-piece suit: a military-style jacket on top of a gold-lame-accented waistcoat and a T-shirt with a golden Nike emblem. Long trousers and a tennis bag with golden sides finished the look.  

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Wimbledon 2011

Bethanie Mattek-Sands became famous on professional court long before her real achievements in doubles caught up with it. Her non-conventional style and the choice of clothes have always attracted public attention and probably distracted the opponents, though didn't get her career moving in singles. Even with a strict Wimbledon all-white dress code, Bethanie found a way to get get around it. Well, maybe she's an artist, she sees tennis in this way! 

Serena Williams (US Open 2014) & Venus Williams (wearing outfit of her own design, French Open 2010), 

The most famous tennis sisters of all times never come unnoticed. For several years Venus has been making her appearances exclusively in the apparel of her own design, while Serena has a long-term contract with Nike that also ensures her looks are exclusive. During the open championship of France Venus caused a lot of fashion conversation by wearing an underwear-like dress with the shorts of  her skin color, which produced a weird impression when being revealed during the game. Though both sisters have long been demonstrating the tendency of breaking sports fashion limits by dictating their rules, sports brands can only benefit from that. 

Tomas Berdych, 2014

Tomas Berdych in his famous H&M outfit (his team dressed the same),
Australian Open 2015

Tomas Berdych is not only one of the most noticeable Check tennis players, famous for his tennis performance and dating models. He is the only player in the top part of the professional tour who has sponsoring contract with H&M brand. The brand is famous but not in tennis wear, for sure. It looks like the only tennis apparel they designed would be exclusively for Tomas and they are doing their best to make his stand out on court. That confirms the fact that there is always room for new brands at the sports fashion market as long as top players choose to promote them. At AO 2015 Tomas had his whole team dressed in the same striped T-shirt he was wearing, bringing the elements of football into tennis culture.

Nick Kirgios, Australian Open 2016

Famous more for his on-court behavior, not the outfit, Nick Kirgios sometimes draws public attention by his haircuts. While sleeveless T-shirt have been in and out of tennis fashion a couple of times, sports arm sleeves are becoming popular as a special feature of both male and female tennis apparel. Hardly anybody would play tennis wearing long sleeves, but if sleeves don't come together with the T-shirt as one piece - they even become a matter of comfort, helping the arms of the players cool down or get sun protection.

Tennis fashion is developing at a faster pace than that of many other sports, not only changing colors and lengths, but making tennis outfits both eye-catching and comfortable. Tennis players promote the fashion trends with the help of their performance and individuality, leaving hardly anyone even from non-tennis public indifferent. There is more to look forward to.