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Men's Tennis
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Women's Tennis
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| Tuesday, January 23 |
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| Venus Williams' fashion front grabs headlines Reuters | |||||
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Some feared for her modesty,
others just plain hated it, but Venus Williams's daring low-cut
new outfit revealed at the Australian Open made sure she stayed
the center of attention on Wednesday.
Venus's stunning outfit even overshadowed Russia's glamorous Anna Kournikova. The eighth seed signed autographs for around 400 fans while the Williams sister act played to a bigger crowd on centre court at Melbourne Park. "Excluding every day of Kournikova's career, an outfit rarely generates as much interest as Venus Williams's apparel did yesterday," wrote The Age newspaper under the headline "Crimes of fashion." "Not since Andre Agassi's on-again, off-again affair with the chest hair wax has a player's appearance raised so many questions," it said. Herald Sun columnist Mark Robinson noted the difference in attire between the showy Venus and her more demure opponent Martinez. Martinez, who surprisingly managed to take a set off the U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion, was dressed in a more traditional all-white outfit. State of undress "Her state of undress, where it appeared her skimpy bra/boob tube had somehow worked its way free of obligation, was in stark contrast to her opponent," Robinson wrote of Venus. Venus's younger sister Serena sported a dress cut in more modest lines but in bright fuschia with matching shoes as the sixth seed crushed Taiwan's Janet Lee 6-1 6-4. The 1999 U.S. Open champion described her big sister's outfit as "cute." "A lot of people try to keep up with us, but it's pretty hard," Serena told reporters. "We're the original... the first, the last," she said. The Williams sisters weren't the only entrants in the fashion stakes. Seventh seed Mary Pierce, who turned 26 on Monday, celebrated her birthday with a 6-1 6-3 win over unseeded Austrian Sylvia Plischke. Never one to be outdone, she made her own fashion statement in a 1970s-style pink and white creation. "I think it's great to see everybody really getting into what they're wearing and getting involved in design and fashion and color," the 1995 Australian Open champion said. Top seed Martina Hingis sported her new performance-improving outfit during the briefest of centre court appearances while demolishing Hungary's Katalin Marosi-Aracama. Hingis wore a white top with one long and one short sleeve, but let her racket do most of the talking as she rolled past a nervous Marosi-Aracama in only 38 minutes. | |
ALSO SEE Hingis, Williams sisters win openers at Aussie Open Australian Open results AUDIO/VIDEO   Serena Williams is enjoying the explosion of color on the women's tour.wav: 112 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | |||
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