Glamor girl Maria Sharapova promised something different at Wimbledon and she didn't disappoint, turning up dressed in a racy take on a men's tuxedo for her first round victory.
The “tuxedo bib-fronted” chiffon top and men’s shorts that Sharapova wore on Tuesday made it 15-love to the Russian in the fashion stakes, which this year seem to be almost as keenly contested as the chase for titles at the All England Club.
“I love menswear in general. You know, I love tuxedo jackets,” Sharapova said after easing past French opponent Stephanie Foretz 6-1, 6-4 with, frankly, her clothes impressing more than her tennis.
PHOTO: EPA
“It was fun doing it because, you know, it’s hard to do things different with white. You know, there’s only so much you could do,” Sharapova said. “I thought, why not do shorts this year? I’ve never done it at a Grand Slam. If there’s one place to do it, it’s here.”
Sharapova, who at 21 is already the world’s most photographed sportswoman, had a tough act to follow at these championships after reigning champion Roger Federer set the ball rolling by donning a cream and gold cardigan in his opener.
The Swiss looked like a throwback to the 1920s — that is, until he unzipped his high-tech rackets and pummeled Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in a very 2008 fashion.
PHOTO: AP
Federer said he had been the inspiration behind the decision to leave behind the cream blazer with the letters “RF” flamboyantly stitched into his right breast pocket which he has worn for the past two years.
“It was Nike. We’ve been talking, what could we do? I thought two jackets was enough. Let’s move on to something a little bit different,” he said.
Not to be outdone, the US sisters who have revolutionized women’s tennis, Venus and Serena Williams, both had fashion firsts waiting for their first-round bows.
Serena appeared for her match with Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi on Monday in a trenchcoat, despite the 25˚C temperatures.
“I probably have more coats than anyone. I’m always buying Burberry. I don’t know why, as I live in Florida, so it doesn’t really add up,” she said after her 7-5, 6-3 win. “Now I have a wonderful white coat I can wear in New York on rainy days.”
For her win over Britain’s Naomi Cavaday on Tuesday, Venus sported an outfit she designed herself as part of her own sportswear line, which she has called Eleven, apparently because she always seeks to do better than 10 out of 10.
Venus said her outfit consisting of many straps and “keyhole cutouts” was based on swimwear by New York fashion designer Norma Kamali — and many journalists nodded knowledgeably, proving that to cover big-time tennis these days a sound knowledge of two-handed backhands and promising Serb starlets just ain’t enough.
As Sharapova said: “I love how 10 of the questions are about what we’re wearing. It’s amazing.”
The marriage of fashion and tennis is not a new phenomenon. They have gone hand-in-racket since the 1920s, when Coco Chanel sketched her outfits for the tennis court, consisting of jersey pants and simple but elegant dresses.
But Sharapova said the growing trend of clothing sponsors creating one-off, eye-catching outfits was deadly serious — and essential to raise the profile of tennis in a viciously competitive sports market.
“We have to realize that in this world tennis is sort of small compared to soccer and compared to American football in the States,” she said.
But if proof were needed that a snappy outfit is not everything, Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine donned a double-breasted tunic to come onto court against 22nd seed Flavia Pennetta — and promptly slumped to a 3-6, 4-6 defeat.
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