U.S. Open: Style takes center court

The Australian Open is the scene-setting salvo of the year, heralding the looks to come; the French Open, the most elegant, thanks to its proximity to the haute couture heritage of Paris; Wimbledon, the most classic, with its insistence on dress code tradition.

And the U.S. Open? Well, as Serena Williams once told The New York Times, “We always pull out all the stops for the Open. I’m always asking my friends in fashion about what’s the new color, or the latest trend, so I can translate that in our collections.”

Forget the white. Give us the neon, the glam, the wild outfits yearning to break free.

Blame it on the tournament’s proximity to New York Fashion Week, which starts the week after the Open begins; the energy of the bright lights, big city vibe; or the sheer fact that this is, after all, one of the few tournaments that involves “evening dress” (outfits for night matches, which are often different from day matches because of the colors and cocktail hour involved) — but over the last 40 years the U.S. Open has been something of a petri dish for tennis fashion for both men and women.

Most of us remember the rule-breaking choices of the Williams sisters, but they are simply part of a continuum of tennis trendsetting in Flushing Meadows that has been embraced by fans and athletes alike. The move from Forest Hills 40 years ago officially heralded a shift away from the country club looks that had once defined the sport, and it freed the stars of the court to experiment.

As a result, for the last four decades, the Open has played host to numerous history-making moments — and that is before the first serve of a match was ever hit. Here are some of the most memorable.

— Branded Style

We tend to think of today as the acme of the sports company/player synergy, but the 1970s heralded the entry of the branded player in more ways than one. Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, Bjorn Borg and Vitas Gerulaitis wore their personalities on their sleeves — and their chests, their shorts, their tennis racket covers and their track suits.

Remember Borg’s signature pinstriped Fila with contrast collar look? Or Connors and his tendency to go for red, white and blue in the line he created with Robert Bruce? Graphic stripes, color blocking and short shorts ruled. It was such an identifiable fashion era, it inspired Pharrell Williams to pay homage in his Adidas collection to the 2017 Open.

— The Tennis Bracelet

Chris Evert gave this accessory its official name — or rather, a Chris-Evert-induced kerfuffle did. There had been jewelry on the court before, but it was not until the star asked an umpire at the Open to stop a match because her delicate gold-chain-with-a-diamond bracelet had fallen off and she needed to find it that it occurred to anyone that, one, valuable jewelry could be worn while playing, and two, the style got its current name (Evert referred to it as her “tennis bracelet”).

Though there is some debate over the year it happened, the consensus is 1987, but one tennis blogger did extensive research and claims it was 1978.

— Defining Austin’s Look

Tennis dresses first became something to see thanks to Cuthbert Collingwood Tinling, known as Ted, the first bona fide name designer of tennis frocks, whose one-off creations brought color, decoration and attitude (and eyeballs) to the court. Tinling, the only designer in the tennis Hall of Fame, made the eyelet frocks that became synonymous with Tracy Austin, encapsulating her youthful spirit, and which she wore when she won the Open in 1979 and 1981.

— Sweatbands Forever

In the 1980s, aerobics had nothing on tennis. Sweatbands have been sported by many athletes and in many colors and patterns, but it was the fire-engine red terry band that bisected John McEnroe’s mop of curls as he relentlessly marched to world domination in the early part of the decade that became the single most valuable accessory in tennis.

Signaling his own flammable personality and, perhaps, the need for self-restraint, it stood out, like his talent, in a sea of more toned-down sweat sopper-uppers.

— Glam Metal

In the 1990s, Andre Agassi shook up the tennis world when he showed up to play in neon with shocking pink Lycra under his black stonewashed shorts (followed by purple, highlighter yellow, and so on). The response only egged him on.

Nike, with whom he worked on every detail of his outfits, was smart enough to see the value in that kind of self-expression. Even after he abandoned his frosted mullet (which turned out to be a hairpiece) for a shaven pate that he covered, for a while, in a piratical bandanna, he continued to push boundaries. Agassi’s fashion iconoclasm became part of his identity, and helped break down any remaining barriers when it came to what was worn on the court.

— Baggy Shorts

Agassi made so much style news in the 1990s, his peer players tend to get overlooked, especially the relatively unshowy or controversial (some said robotic) Pete Sampras. But give him credit for introducing the baggy, oversize shorts and untucked shirt look to the tennis wardrobe — a style that remains very much in play.

— Runway

As fashion exploded into a global industry, Vogue became a factor on the tennis scene. Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, is a famous fan, and from 2003 onward tennis players started making regular appearances in her pages, and occasionally (when they lost at the Open), at her side during fashion week.

Understanding the boost to their careers that could come from clothes, fashion plates such as Anna Kournikova used style to keep their names in lights even when their strokes were not nearly as winning.

It was Maria Sharapova, however, who really brought the idea of the atelier to center court, sporting an Audrey Hepburn-inspired little black dress with Swarovski crystals on the collar in 2006 (a trend she later continued by working with former Givenchy, now Burberry, designer, Riccardo Tisci on a crystal and lace dress she wore at the Open in 2017).

— Hall of Fame

This belongs, hands-down, to Serena Williams, who is not only perhaps the greatest tennis player who ever lived, but who also has done more to stretch the boundaries of what is possible with her tennis outfits than any other player.

First there was the shorts unitard she wore in 2002, the denim skirt with knee-high sneakers in 2004, and then the animal prints she introduced in 2014. This year designer-of-the-moment Virgil Abloh, aka the first creative chief of color in the Louis Vuitton family, pairs with Nike to create multiple looks for Williams, including a one-sleeved tutu-skirted number in both black and white.

It is no accident both she and her sister Venus launched their own clothing lines: the latter a tennis brand called EleVen and the former an on-court brand with Nike entitled Greatness as well as an off-court line called, simply, Serena, shown during fashion week.

The sisters understand as viscerally as anyone on the court that winning is wrapped up in self-confidence, and self-confidence can be derived from and communicated through what you wear.

— Honorable Mention

Add Agassi to Sharapova, and what do you get? Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Though she has never made the top 10 as a singles player, from her boho chic sheer top with crochet lace knee socks in 2006 to her leopard shorts-and-tank-and-black corset, she was not afraid to step over the line.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.