Tennis Moods Style: Mary Pierce

Before Kournikova, Sharapova, Kirilenko, Ivanovic or Wozniacki, there was Mary Pierce. Due to her sophisticated manners, her moodiness and her fashion statements, the gracious Frenchwoman was quick in taking charge of the Diva status just upon joining the tour. She will always be referred to as the game's maiden Modern Diva.

Moi...La Fashionista

The Canadian born Frenchwoman joined the WTA tour in 1989, quickly making an impression by winning her first title in 1991 in Palermo. At the beginning of the 90s, she undertook a major transformation from the strange looking geekish teenager into a stylish young lady. She was soon offered an important sponsorship deal with Nike, for which she was the leading spokesperson for several years.

It is hard to identify a general pattern in Mary's fashion style, at least in the beginning. She always followed her guts, her range varying from simple garments to more elaborated, colour rich outfits. The dresses that stand out are definitely the black-white one she wore when collecting the Roland Garros title in 2000 or the stripped apparels she showcased at the 1997 French Open and at the 2000 Australian Open.

early 90s: a geekish looking Mary was making her debut on the WTA tour as an ambassador for Ellesse.
 

Australian Open 1994 marked the beginning of a fruitful relation with Nike.

French Open 1994: in her breakthrough year she stunned world no.1 Steffi Graf to reach her maiden Grand Slam final. The home pressure took its toll though, and an inexperienced Mary lost to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain.

1995: her first Grand Slam title in Australia, defeating Arantxa Sanchez in the final.

Australian Open 1996: Mary fails to defend her title.

1996 Wimbledon & Olympic Games

Australian Open 1997: Mary returns to the final, but loses to new teen sensation, the Swiss Miss Martina Hingis.

  

French Open 1997

US Open 1997

Chase Championships 1997: Mary reaches the final, having disposes of world number 1 Hingis in the quarterfinals. She succumbs to Czech Jana Novotna.

Australian Open 1998

Australian Open 1999

French Open 1999

US Open 1999

Australian Open 2000

 

Roland Garros 2000: not sure how fair it would be to accuse Julia Roberts of inspiring her 2001 Oscar winning Valentino look from Mary's outfit, but there are definitely similarities between the two. It was a fairytale fortnight for a royal looking Pierce, who went on to capture her second Grand Slam title, to the delight of a partisan French crowd.

Proud Mary kept on rolling

After winning her second Grand Slam trophy, Mary's career went through a lot of ups and downs. Her years on the tour were marred by numerous injuries, the Frenchwoman becoming a sort of a part-time player. However, she was always able to rebound every time, managing to achieve some spectacular results. 

Due to her efforts to increase the power of her shots and to cope better with the Williams sisters, Davenport or other killer players, Mary's once fragile figure started to deteriorate. She gained some extra kilos and  began losing her agility on the court. 

Along with her recently acquired silhouette came a toning down of her fashion style. With a few examples, Mary became one of the Nike block. During this span, she took some very unfortunate decisions, which made her look ridiculous (i.e. the extremely tight pink geometrical garment she showcased in 2001 or the mega dull piece she chose to wear in 2003). In spite of everything, proud Mary kept on rolling. With a limited schedule, the Frenchwoman managed to get back to top form in 2005 when she experienced a fairytale end to the season. She put fashion second and decided to focus on her game. It paid off for a period, but in the end it was again the injuries that took their toll. This time, the 31 years old Frenchwoman throw in the tower. She ended her career after failing to recover from a knee injury she sustained in 2006 at Linz.

2000 US Open

 

2001

Australian Open 2002

Rome 2002

2002 Roland Garros & Wimbledon

2003 Australian Open & Roland Garros

Toronto 2003

US Open 2003

Roland Garros 2004

Australian Open 2005

Roland Garros & US Open 2005, Melbourne 2006: an excellent period comprising of 5 finals in 6 tournaments. For the first time in her career she reached two Grand Slam finals (i.e. Roland Garros and US Open), plus the final of the Masters in the same year. Unfortunately for her, she lost then all.

US Open 2006

Zürick 2006

photos: taken from the official Mary Pierce fan page

Tennis Moods Style: Anna Kournikova

She may not have won a tournament in her life, but Russian superstar Anna Kournikova managed to revolutionize the world of tennis. She reached fame at an early age when she advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals in 1997. This led to being perceived a tennis prodigy by many. She couldn’t take the ultimate step though, finding it hard to cope with all the pressure that was put on her fragile shoulders. She was always a top contestant, fighting on equal terms with the world’s best, but somehow she wasn’t able to put together a winning performance. And when she retired in her early twenties, her dream of glory was forever gone. Considering her talent and immense potential, the elusive maiden title remains one of biggest paradoxes in tennis. Nevertheless, Anna will always be remembered as the game's first media darling. The way she mesmerized the audience and the press remains unrivalled to this date.

Being an extremely beautiful blonde babe, Anna was always one to show off her sexuality. She teamed up with Adidas to design the most spectacularly revealing outfits which to perfectly emphasize her sexy curves. In terms of fashion, the Russian was a regular 'as hottest as possible' type. With a wardrobe that ranged from hot pants, to sexy dresses and top, Kournikova was one to provoke and to tease the imagination of her plenitude of fans. The lines were simple, the colour palette not too heavy (usually mono or bichrome) and overall, her style was fresh, joyful and young. Adding to this her incredibly sexy figure, the perfect combination was ensured.

The world's most adored teen

 

 

Anna mania started almost instantaneously, ever since the Russian first set foot on a tennis court. She was like a magnet, stealing the limelight like no other. Her fashion beginnings consisted of sexy dresses, which very well served their purpose, the Russian babe soon becoming the world’s sexiest sport figure. Although she wore angelic outfits (mainly white), her sexuality transpired. She didn’t dare too much, but she always made sure to stand out from the rest of the Adidas gang.

My favourite amid these batch is the blue-white striped dressed she wore when reaching the most important final of her career in 1998 at Key Biscayne.

Full-bloomed babe

 

 

Having established herself as a worldwide sex symbol, Kournikova found it easy to live up to the expectations. She started using hot pants (either tied or loose), introduced electric colours in her repertoire and played a bit with the cuts and lines of her pieces. Having matured and bursting out with confidence, she left the angelic phase behind and opted for a sexier, edgier on court appearance. I really liked the sunny intense yellow top she wore in Australia in 2001 and the irregular shaped apparels she showcased during the second half of the 2002 season.

Sexy ever after

 

 

 

 

 

After her sudden retirement in 2003, Anna Kournikova continued to play tennis occasionally, making some well-acclaimed appearances at several exhibition tournaments. After a fruitful collaboration, she parted ways with Adidas in the spring of 2007 and became a K-Swiss ambassador. Although sexiness is not their trademark quality, the new sponsor did a decent job in perpetuating her legacy. Considering her latest outfits, it looks like her fans have nothing to worry about. Although she lost some weight, the sexy Anna will continue to haunt the imagination of many with her on court display.

photos (top-down / left-right):  SI, ? (x3), Allsport, AP, ? (x3), Reuters, ?, GETTY IMAGES, ? (x3), Reuters, ? (x3), GETTY IMAGES, ? (x3), GETTY IMAGES, AP, GETTY IMAGES, ?, GETTY IMAGES, ? (x3), GETTY IMAGES, AFR, GETTY IMAGES (x2)