No bling and frills

MELBOURNE – The frills are gone at this year’s Australian Open, so too is the flashy beading that adorned previous years’ outfits as players opt for simple fashions in tough times.

Instead of the baby doll nighties that once lit up a tournament renowned as the ‘Glam Slam’, many of the top women are taking to the court in simple scoop neck tops, turning it into a dowdy ‘Singlet Slam’.
The top 10 seeded Russians Dinara Safina and Nadia Petrova both wore yellow singlets in the opening rounds, along with Dane Caroline Wozniacki who matched hers with a muted grey skirt. World number one Jelena Jankovic turned up for practice in a nondescript grey singlet, although she later ramped up her fashion credentials by unveiling a major deal with a Chinese sportwear manufacturer. Even the glamorous Ana Ivanovic has opted for a singlet, albeit in a stylish magenta, ditching the powder blue shift in which she reached last year’s final. Such singlets are the traditional attire of construction workers in Australia and, with a few tattoos and a cigarette tucked behind their ear, the girls could fit right in at a Melbourne building site. They may be missing the influence of defending champion Maria Sharapova, tennis’ top clothes horse, who is not at the season-opening Grand Slam due to injury. Or perhaps they were inhibited by the row that engulfed Alize Cornet at the Hopman Cup in Perth during the Open lead up, when triple Wimbledon champion Margaret Court accused her of wearing a see-through top. ‘I just don’t think the tennis court is the place to be everything clingy and showing everything,’ Court fumed. – Nampa-AFP