10 Most controversial Tennis outfits of all time
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are that of the author's and do not necessarily reflect Sportskeeda's stand on the same.
Tennis is a game where players' talent and their Tennis apparel is given equal importance. Over the years, the legendary game has seen lots of fashion depictions on the court. However, some tennis outfits turned out to be major on-court controversies.
Great outfits are appreciated while the inappropriate ones become the talk of the year. The choice of every player is different and they try to opt for a unique outfit for every Grand Slam. The various Grand Slams too give them a number of rules to follow.
Wimbledon is the oldest and most classic Grand Slam in tennis. It also has the most rules regarding the attire of players. Wimbledon expects players to come on grass courts in complete white outfits. This adds elegance and uniqueness to the Championship.
Other three Grand Slams, the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open allow all typical tennis outfits. In the history of tennis, there are badly dressed tennis players whose outfits are remembered until today.
Some of the famous players too have made major flaws with their dressing on courts. Yet few players have gracefully displayed talent despite their bad dressing. Some still are infamous for their undesirable tennis apparel.
All these instances have developed controversies over time. We can quote examples where players were even banned for creating on-court controversies with respect to their outfit. Some badly dressed tennis players also faced mocking comments from the audience on courts.
Here are the 10 most controversial tennis outfits of all time.
#1 Federer's Gold overcoat
Federer walked in with a gold accented coat during Wimbledon in 2009. The shining strips on his tennis outfit and the golden lining on his coat looked quite inappropriate.
His bag created extra buzz among his fans and the audience. The bag had a golden Tick representing his official Nike brand. The bag lacked its purpose on the Tennis field because of the large shimmering gold base.
#2 Aravane Rezai's golden and black dress
Aravane Rezai dressed up in a golden skirt with a black t-shirt that looked a bit too much for a tennis match. Her outfit in the Medibank International made her one of the badly dressed tennis players in the history of tennis.
Aravane Rezai dressed up in a golden skirt with a black t-shirt that looked a bit too much for a Tennis match. Her outfit in the Medibank International made her one of the badly dressed tennis players in the history of tennis.
The tennis apparel was totally inappropriate for the Tennis court and Rezai looked like a movie character to the viewers. Her t-shirt too had details with golden patchwork matching her skirt.
#3 Annie White's catsuit
In 1985, Tennis player Annie White created a remarkable controversy with her Catsuit. For the Wimbledon tournament, she opted to wear a full white, tight Catsuit. It was neither welcomed by the officials nor the audience.
She was in fact asked to change her outfit when the match paused due to weather conditions. This is one of the greatest controversies remembered till date.
#4 Greg Rusedski's flag band
The Wimbledon Championship strictly wants the players to come in complete white. This rule has been broken by many players from the beginning. Greg Rusedski wore a union flag band during 1995 Wimbledon.
Greg Rusedski being a Canadian-British player, the flag band gave a clear message about his country. This also became a major topic for people to gossip about.
#5 In 2010 Australian Open, Venus Williams dresses in a risque outfit
During the Australian Open in 2010, Venus Williams wore a yellow outfit with a skin-colored underpants. This made Venus very uncomfortable and created a major controversy. She was wearing a white cap too.
The audience also started making sounds like wolves making it an embarrassing on court controversy. The risque outfit can be an example of very badly dressed tennis players of all time that created controversy.
#6 Ana Ivanovic's camouflage dress
In the 2016 French Open, Adidas released a new range of camouflage dress that did not serve its purpose. Ana Ivanovic and many others chose to wear this tennis apparel and ended up facing controversial issues.
The outfit seems to blind the opponents with its eye blogging black and white stripes. Adidas on a whole created unexpected controversy of the year 2016.
#7 Gertrude Moran's lace underwear
This is one of the oldest and largest controversies ever. In 1949, Gertrude Moran faced criticism by unexpectedly exposing her lace underwear. The All England Tennis club declared her to be vulgar and that she had brought sin to tennis.
She is considered as one of the badly dressed tennis players ever. This scandalized the entire tennis world in the 1940s and is remembered as the greatest controversies in tennis history.
#8 Venus Williams in a white jumpsuit
Venus Williams in 2011 wore a unique golden white jumpsuit, yet was totally unappealing on the court. This tennis outfit became a matter of joke for tennis and fashion specialists.
Her jumpsuit had a golden inner and a backless top which made it look too extravagant for a tennis tournament.
#9 Serena's black Catsuit
Serena wore a Wakanda inspired black Catsuit for the French Open in 2018. She decided to wear the piece in order to cover her post-pregnancy health issues in her body. Yet the French Tennis Federation banned the outfit.
It was declared that this tennis apparel disrespected the game and the place. The officials also told that policing of women's body should end. The ban of Catsuit on tennis courts has gained critical and political views from everywhere. It has turned out to be the greatest controversies of recent times.
#10 Bethanie's Lady Gaga-inspired coat
Bethaine Lynn Mattek is well-known for her fashion choices on the court. She has created a number of on-court controversies with her crazy outfits. In the 2011 Wimbledon tournament, she tried to mock the stringent all-white rule by wearing a unique jacket.
Bethanie's coat had white tennis balls all over and white strips hanging everywhere. This excited her fans and became a hot topic to discuss. Although she did face serious issues as it was not worn during the match. This jacket still remains unparalleled to any other crazy outfit in tennis.
These are the notable controversies that created news in the tennis world. Many other players too faced some kind of controversy in their lives. Yet these players knew how to tackle all the paparazzi that went around. All of them did become successful in their tennis careers beyond all this. They managed to face media wisely.
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