Tennis: Fashion as crucial as form

KATHY MARKS reports that it is the Williams sisters who are the real trend setters.

MELBOURNE - It is possible that Venus Williams forgot that she had an appointment on centre court at the Australian Open and dressed to go to the beach instead. Then again, perhaps she just loves the attention.

"Is it supposed to be like that, or has it gone wrong?" demanded one bemused male tennis fan as Venus stripped off her wind jacket to reveal a clinging, plunging black and blue two-piece with a large slash in the front that afforded a generous view of her cleavage.

The Wimbledon and US Open champion may well have asked herself the same question as her first-round match against Maria Jose Martinez, of Spain, got under way.

With her top obstinately refusing to remain in place, she was obliged to hitch it up every few minutes in order to avoid a repetition of the fate of Linda Siegel, the American whose breasts popped out during a Wimbledon match in 1979.

Venus, who at one point returned a serve with her right hand while holding the offending garment in place with her left, must have wondered what on earth her sponsors, Reebok, had in mind when they designed such an impractical ensemble.

Some former players feared for Venus' modesty during the more demanding points in her match against Martinez.

"Every time Venus tossed up to serve I was thinking, 'Oh no, they won't fall out, will they?"' tour veteran Pam Shriver said in the Australian newspaper.

"Thankfully they didn't ... things were much simpler in my day. I do not think many of us would be comfortable wearing Venus' contraption," Shriver said.

Venus' was the most outre of an array of eye-catching outfits that have been unveiled at the Australian Open over the first two days.

In the new showpiece Vodafone Arena, Serena Williams looked positively staid by comparison with her older sister, wearing a shocking pink dress several sizes too small.

On the No 1 court, Mary Pierce sported a purple 1970s-style creation covered with geometric shapes that exhausted the eye.

Not to be outdone, Anna Kournikova - the Russian Barbie doll blessed with better looks than tennis talent - appeared in brief shorts and a canary yellow cap-sleeved T-shirt with matching shoes.

Even the conservative Lindsay Davenport sported a bright red top, white skirt and red and white shoes.

Tennis whites are not what they used to be.

The glamorous young things who now dominate the circuit have done much to increase the marketability of the women's game. The Williams sisters, in particular, hog the limelight, with fans agog to see their latest outrageous outfits.

The growing popularity of women's matches no doubt contributed to the decision of Australian Open organisers to follow the example of the US Open and give women the same prize-money as men for the first time this year: about £310,000 ($1.024 million) for singles champions.

Not all of the tennis gear on display here is intended purely to please the eye. Martina Hingis, for instance, maintains that her striking new shirt, with one sleeve longer than the other, is all about technology; the longer sleeve is designed to "compress" her playing arm, slow down muscle fatigue and improve her power and stroke accuracy.

Okay, Martina, we believe you. Never let it be said that the world No 1 - who can be seen soaping up in the shower in a television advertisement for Sanex - wants to be the centre of attention.

And hush those cynics who mutter that the only effect of the techno-shirt will be a lopsided suntan.

The men are attracting spectators' interest, too, and not just Marat Safin, the drop-dead gorgeous Russian No 2 seed.

Andre Agassi, the defending champion and incurable fashion victim, has appeared in thigh-hugging shorts reminiscent of the uniforms favoured by Australian Rules football players.

Lleyton Hewitt, the Australian teenager, wears baggy shorts and shirt with a back-to-front baseball cap; he looks as if he has just stepped off a skateboard.

The Williams sisters are fashion design students, but Venus - who recently signed a £28 million ($93.5 million) contract with Reebok, the biggest sponsorship deal ever struck by a female athlete - said after Tuesday's match that she was not responsible for her latest look.

She denied that she had experienced problems with the two-piece and, asked if she intended to persevere with it, replied: "Naturally."

Serena, who described Venus' outfit as "really cute," said: "A lot of people try to keep up with us, but it's pretty hard. We're the originals, the first, the last."

- HERALD CORRESPONDENT