With the Wimbledon Championships underway, it is hard not to notice that tennis players are becoming more and more edgy with the outfits that they are choosing to wear.  While there have been times throughout the past when tennis stars have opted for a more different approach to choosing their looks–think Andre Agassi’s long hair do–it seems that so many men and women are actually trying to cause a stir with their clothing choices.  Is this a good thing or a bad thing?  For a sport that is so regarded in its traditions, do you think it is okay for players to bend the rules or dress bizarrely for events?  There are a number of reasons to both support and not support these wacky wardrobes, I’ll leave it to you to choose whether you are pro or con.  Here are the two sides from a couple of our team members.

Janie – Con:  The fact that the players are strutting into the court wearing outlandish outfits is quite distracting to me.  I don’t know about you, but I become shocked that people would consider wearing some of these outfits.  For instance, Bethanie Mattek-Sands walked into the court at Wimbledon, of all places, wearing a white cropped jacket complete with tennis ball sleeves and leather fringe.  Underneath, I’m not so sure that her one sleeved outfit with her face paint was any better.  The jacket was designed by the man who creates a lot of Lady Gaga’s ghastly attire.  Great, now tennis is going Gaga.  Where is the respect?  I think it’s great to be different, and if you wanted to make a statement with your clothing maybe you should have chosen a different profession.  I would rather you look plain and boring and be a great player.  Since I’m talking about crazy outfits I have to make mention of the William’s sisters because I have come way to o close to literally seeing their unmentionables while watching them play.  Ranting aside, I feel like it looks tacky and unprofessional to wear some of these outfits.  Oh, I forgot to mention the outfit Mattek-Sands “rocked” at the pre-Wimbledon event…tennis ball yellow is not her color.

Hillary – Pro:  Distraction or not, you cannot keep people from wearing what they want.  If the outfits worn at Wimbledon did not fit the rules, then they would not have played, plain and simple.  I think that these crazy clothes are actually giving the sport of tennis more attention because people will tune in to see what Venus is wearing, and end up watching because they actually enjoy the sport.  So, let the player express themselves, and let tennis get some much needed attention.

Catch all the tennis outfit craziness by tuning into the Wimbledon Championship on Direct TV On Demand.