Swing and a Miss!

As well as being a huge tennis and sports fan, I am also a big pop culture junkie. People magazine comes in my mailbox every week and I am constantly visiting celeb websites like Eonline.com, People.com, and TMZ. I also am guilty of checking up on the infamous website, PerezHilton.com, also known as “Hollywood’s Most Hated Website.” Perez has been known to post any and every gossip story about every celebrity in the world. Last week, I saw a picture of a professional tennis player that Perez was posting on his site - and I was speechless. It turns out that it was American Beth Mattek, playing her first round at the US Open. Here is the post…take a look for yourself…take a breath before you click!

I am sure you are thinking the same things that I thought when I saw that picture...is that outfit even appropriate for tennis? It is appropriate for some clubbing in NYC - maybe - but not tennis in NYC! I immediately decided to look up more of this girl because I knew the press probably had a field day with this one. Indeed, I was right. It turns out that Mattek, ranked number 123 in the world, has had more than her fair share of wardrobe disasters. At Wimbledon in 2006, the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world, Beth wore knee socks and short-shorts that should have been part of a bathing suit. Spectators dubbed the outfit as “ghastly” and “awful.” Mattek has also sported some leopard skins, a cowboy hat, and wears basketball shoes. Not very typical for tennis.

Tennis has always branded itself as a sport of posh, prestige, and professionalism, as historic tennis was played by kings and the wealthy. Even today, when people think of tennis, the "country club" stereotype is typical - upper-class citizens meeting weekly at their outrageously priced country clubs to play a friendly tennis match and sip cocktails afterwards. The sport is classy, respectable, and full of good sportsmanship.

The professional circuit also reflects these values. Besides athleticism, players are expected to act maturely and sophisticated. In addition to a thick rulebook of tennis etiquette, players get fined for swearing at a chair umpire. Some may also need to pay up if they say something rude or derogatory about a tournament. In January, Nikolay Davydenko was fined a whopping 10-Grand for dissing a tournament in Australia. Appearance is important, too. You rarely see tattoos or piercings on athletes - something that is becoming more and more common in other sports like football and basketball.

However, there are always those players who push those extra buttons and this year's US Open was no different. Besides Mattek dressing in her more-than-we-need-to-see outfit, there were some other outrageous outfits at the Open. As the US Open comes to a close, rather than talking about what has happened the last two weeks (you can read about that anywhere), I am going beyond the matchplay and into the not-so-fashionable minds of some of the players. Here are my Top 5 "Outrageous Looks of the Open." Be sure to ask yourself, "What were they thinking?"

5 - Venus Williams. Usually Venus wears the cutest dresses, but I am not digging these shorts. I also think that the shirt is a little too mature for her. Venus is still young...the collar doesn't suit her style. This outfit is mixed up in all of the wrong ways.

4 - Maria Sharapova's "Coat." No doubt Sharapova wore a gorgeous red dress with gems around the neckline, but her black, see-through warm up coat was a no-no. It is hot enough in NYC, why need a coat?

3 - Fabrice Santoro. Whoa! My eyes hurt just looking at that shirt during the marathon James Blake match. It is like a cross between a bad golf polo and a messed up rainbow!

2 - Janko Tipsarevic. Glasses are not meant to be worn during an intense sport! Don't they fog up or fill with sweat? I had glasses in my early days and it was a pain...get some contacts! This guy is one of the few with tattoos and piercings, too.

1 - Beth Mattek. Miss Beth is back in doubles this time. If you think that her singles dress caused a stir, her doubles-ware is no different. A matching visor, too! I cannot even comment!

The lesson here: Sports figures need to remember that they have a purpose as a professional athlete. They have a duty to compete and to drive themselves or their team to higher success. Putting more attention on oneself through something other than raw athleticism and passion is not the best way to demonstrate that. I am not saying that appearance is not important (I even admit to wanting to look kind of flashy when I am playing), but when you take the attention away from the sole purpose of sport, simply through an outfit, it is not appropriate. This is especially true in a classy sport like tennis.

So, here's to this year's US Open, another tournament on American soil filled with dozens of fantastic and passionate matchplay. There were many hits, some misses, and lots of memories!