Tennis style from Martina Navratilova to Venus Williams

Martina Navratilova, 1975: The orange juice colour with the huge contrast collars has dated remarkably gracefully and the cut looks like it came from a classic 1970s Vogue pattern. Shame Martina opted for shorts in later years.
Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features

Anne White at Wimbledon, 1985: Way ahead of the American Apparel curve, or USA bobsleigh team reject? Either way she was missing a trick by not adding a fluoro sweatband. No wonder referee Alan Mills had a quiet word about this look.
Photograph: Getty Images

Andre Agassi at the French Open, 1990: Salmon-pink cycling shorts, matching headband and a keyboard-effect print over the T-shirt. This is known in the glossy magazine trade as a “pop of colour” and Agassi is working it to full effect. All topped off with that iconic mullet.
Photograph: Dan Smith/Getty Images

Andrei Medvedev at the French Open, 1999: Visual proof as to why having sartorial standards is important in tennis. Add a hard hat and he looks like he belongs on a building site rather than centre court at Roland Garros.
Photograph: Jacques Demarthon/AFP

Bethanie Mattek at the US Open, 2004: Leopard print on a Parisian catwalk we love; leopard print at a Grand Slam is another matter. What Bet Lynch might have worn if she had wound up on the ATP tour. The visor completes the wrongness.
Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Serena Williams at the French Open, 2002: There's a touch of the Marc by Marc Jacobs about this which immediately scores style points. The dress is based on the Cameroon soccer shirt – an odd idea to intertwine two sporting kits – but it sort of works.
Photograph: Getty Images/Allsport UK

Maria Kirilenko at Wimbledon, 2006: This is how you update a retro look with a light-handed touch. The tiered skirt recalls old-school frilled knickers without looking silly or Lolita-ish.
Photograph: Eddie Mulholland/Rex Features

Serena Williams at the US Open, 2004: She claimed it was inspired by James Dean, but the denim kilt, knee-high trainers and the studded vest are more Terminator-meets-gladiator than Rebel. This even had a matching leather jacket. Double fault indeed.
Photograph: Rhona Wise/EPA

Bethanie Mattek at Wimbledon, 2006: Had it have been executed in a much slicker way this sexy 1970s Fame look might have worked. But the real genius lies in the incongruous sponsorship marriage across her chest. The ad patches formed the main chunk of Mattek's pay check – she was ranked 102 at the time and lost out to Venus Williams in the first round.
Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

Maria Sharapova at the French Open, 2007: The cropped leggings look fit for purpose but the pointless chiffon overlay dress shows up this court look for what it is: way too try-hard.
Photograph: Clive Rose/Getty Images

Roger Federer at Wimbledon, 2008: The preppy cardigan is in perfect synchronicity with Federer's gentlemanly on-court persona. The Swiss champ's brilliance at style semantics is unsurprising: Anna Wintour is one of his closest friends.
Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Venus Williams at the Australian Open, 2010: An instant namecheck for EleVen, her new clothing label. Who needs a catwalk when you have a bank of baseline photographers to manipulate? I salute her style savvy.
Photograph: David Gray/Reuters