They look great while they play tennis but some of the biggest stars of the game look even more slamming off court. tabloid! takes a peak at their wardrobes.
Tennis is a stylish affair. Hot young stars strut their stuff on the catwalk and look as good as any model. Others are snatched up by sports corporations eager to display their latest designs on striking athletes. These celebs provide an opportunity for the brands to shine.
The tennis court has long been a platform for fashion statements — from Suzanne Lenglen's controversial refusal to wear a corset in 1920 to Gertrude Moran's lace undies in 1949 — but never before have we seen the trend catapult as in the last decade.
Funky
It's not just the women. Tennis hunks also lead the way in fashionable attire. Roger Federer loves his dapper designer suits and stylish man-bag. On court, tennis guys are rarely seen without their headbands — a funky piece of head gear that harks back to the 1970s and gives the game an air of cool. On the red carpet, tennis men can be seen sporting super-smart tuxedos and designer labels from head to toe.
Serena Williams breathes fresh air into the sport. She is stylish, opinionated and eccentric. As feisty on court as she is off, she has sported yellow Afro hair and outrageously revealing ensembles.
Maria Sharapova is considered one of the hottest female stars of today and fashion magazines have eagerly snapped her up. Leggy blonde Daniela Hantuchova also has a fair share of endorsements and striking magazine shoots under her belt. She has a great sense of individual style that sees her wearing funky polka-dot dresses to red carpet events.
Red Carpet
Some stars like to merge their tennis attire into every-day life. Maria Sharapova is one such example wearing short and sweet mini-dresses on the red carpet. If you can't credit them with anything else, you have to give them a big thumbs up for pulling off the sporty "chav" look — and they do it with style.
With stars like these, tennis is officially cool.
Rafael Nadal
This hip young star favours the trendy street-kid look. He prefers to dress down, wearing his trademark headband and three-quarter length pirate pants.
Daniela Hantuchova
Daniela Hantuchova is another star with bags of style. Dubbed the "legs from Slovakia", she is a pro on the catwalk — having modelled for Spanish fashion house, TCN, during Madrid Fashion Week.
Her favourite labels include Missoni, Roverto Cavalli and Armani.
Roger Federer
Roger Federer favours the smart-dandy look both on and off the court. For the US Open in 2007 he perfectly matched his colours, wearing a royal blue polo-collar shirt, royal blue sweatband around his head and royal blue sweatband around his wrist. His personal style mirrors his tennis wardrobe.
Men's Vogue editor Jay Fielden, told reporters: "He's got it all going on. He wears clothes that are emblematic of age and status. He does not dress too old or too young, too stuffy or too trendy. He's solid, smart and handsome."
It's a statement that Federer is comfortable with. His suave sense of style sees him favouring classic designers like Gucci and Dolce and Gabbana. He's also a fan of the rather dapper man-bag.
Last year he told a sports magazine: "I think it's important to look good on the court... I had the idea last year of the jacket. Of course this year we followed it up with an entire outfit... I see that players are more aware now of the details, the headband matches with the shorts and so forth. I always thought it was important, you know, that the whole entire outfit matches together."
Maria Sharapova
Dressed by Nike on court, Maria Sharapova is one of the sport's most stylish stars — and she knows it. In 2005 she made it clear that looks were as important as the game itself.
"Beauty sells," she told reporters. " I have to realise that's also part of why people want me. I understand it. It's fine. I'm not going to make myself ugly."
In 2007, she jazzed up her court outfit for the French Open by adding pleats around the neck and riffles on the back extending from her shoulder blades down to the small of the back.
She told reporters: "There is only so much you can do with white. It's always going to be traditional. You think of little creative things and details you can add to a dress."
For her 18th birthday, she turned down cover shoots for leery lads mags, favouring instead a stylish shoot with Italian Vogue.
