WIMBLEDON, England - Venus Williams found herself upstaged on the fashion front Wednesday, eclipsed at Wimbledon by an opponent who introduced the roller-disco look to Centre Court.
Better known for her outlandish outfits than for her tennis talents, American Bethanie Mattek wore a broad bandanna, knee-high socks, short shorts and a tube top over a halter top with two sponsor patches on her chest.
So where were her skates?
"I was going for kind of the soccer theme," Mattek said.
Oh.
"Very '70s-inspired," Williams said. "She looked real cute."
Mattek, who wore an argyle cowboy hat during a loss last year at the U.S. Open, again failed to dress for success. Williams won the first-round match 6-1, 6-0, kick-starting a bid for her fourth Wimbledon title and her second in a row.
Mattek's getup was gone in 51 minutes. So much for her Centre Court debut.
"I hadn't played there before," she said. "I wish I could have stayed out there a little longer."
With 27 seeded women in action, routs were the rule.
No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, 2004 champion Maria Sharapova and former French Open champion Anastasia Myskina won their opening matches while losing a combined six games. French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, Martina Hingis and 17-year-old Nicole Vaidisova advanced to the third round while losing a combined eight games. U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters won the easiest of all, reaching the third round with a walkover.
None of the drubbings lasted more than an hour, leaving lots of time to talk attire.
Williams, a former fashion-design student with her own clothing line, sported a stick-on tattoo below the front of her right shoulder but otherwise broke no new ground, opting for an elegant halter-top dress.
She looked terrific, though - especially when she swung her racket.
Playing on grass for the first time since beating Lindsay Davenport in last year's dramatic final, Williams hit 26 winners to three for Mattek and dropped only seven points on her serve.
So what if she lost the clothes contest?
"If someone's incredible outfit puts you off your game, mentally you're not ready to be a professional tennis player," Williams said.
Mattek was born in Rochester, Minn., and developed a taste for offbeat outfits when she moved to Miami. She was fined for wearing the argyle hat at the Open, and another year she wore a leopard-print dress there. She prefers playing in basketball shoes because she thinks they look cool.
It's a way to stand out despite an 0-7 career record in Grand Slam events and a ranking of 103rd. She arrived at Wimbledon with a reputation to keep.
"All the players in the locker room are like, 'What are you wearing today⢠You have to tell me,'" she said. "I had to do something because I felt pressure."
She chose her clothes the night before the match.
"I had one of my friends in my hotel room," she said. "I had like three shirts, three skirts - 'I don't know what I'm going to wear.'"
She made a last-minute run to Harrods department store in London, where she bought the tube socks for $18. The shorts came from Paris. The sponsorship patches were the final addition - because Mattek was on Centre Court, she received $1,000 for each one she wore.
Wimbledon is the only tournament with a dress code requiring predominantly white, which even Mattek observed. But the conservative All England Club has seen some outrageous outfits in the past. There was Anne White's bodysuit in 1985 and Gussie Moran's ruffled knickers in 1949.
"Gussie Moran⢠I saw pictures of that," Mattek said. "Yeah, that's cool. I'll do it next year." Additional Information:
Wimbledon online
