Stars in Women's Tennis
From Maria Bueno to Venus Williams, women tennis has seen the advent of many great stars and many more are yet to come…
The present game of tennis drives its origin from two separate games namely Racquets and a Spanish ball game Pelota. The game has come a long way since the time of its conception. Apart from the host of tennis tournaments played each year, the coveted ones being the Grand Slams, the game is also a part of the Olympics. One of the most widely followed games today; women began to play competitive tennis only in 1884. As a matter of fact, when the women’s single game was first introduced in Wimbledon, it had just 13 contestants. In the early days, women wore full length dresses. Compared to the present day’s attire, those dresses must have been highly uncomfortable. Imagine a strong breeze blowing up your skirt when you about to serve! I guess, to overcome this, the material that was used was comparatively heavier and thicker than usual. The only color acceptable then was white. It was only around the early 1900s that the clothes began to get more comfortable and apt to play tennis. Calf length skirts were introduced. The skirts began to get still shorter from 1930 onwards. Fashion finally invaded the tennis court from 1990 onwards. Stella McCartney, Steffi Graf, the Williams sisters, Maria Sharapova, Anna Kournikova, Sania Mirza and a host of other female tennis stars have joined the growing number of designers creating the most functional yet fashionable women's tennis apparel available today. Designed to meet the needs and expectations of today's female tennis players, women's tennis clothing is made to please. Margaret Smith Court is considered as greatest female tennis player and has 24 singles Grand Slam titles to her credit. Steffi Graf, Jennifer Capriati, Martina Hingis, Martina Navratilova, and Monica Seles are other popularity queens. Anything written about women’s tennis without including the contribution of the female tennis players off court would be incomplete. Billie Jean King, one of the most illustrious and celebrated tennis players in history, has been honored for leading the women's movement in tennis and for her life-long struggle for equality in women's tennis. King empowered women and educated men when she defeated Bobby Riggs in one of the greatest moments in sports history - The Battle of the Sexes in 1973. Martina Navratilova, went public with her sexual orientation of being a homosexual when she was granted American citizenship in 1981. Since then she has always been a spokesperson for Gay and Lesbian rights. She filed a lawsuit against Amendment 2, a 1992 ballot proposition in Colorado designed to deny gays and lesbians legal protection from discrimination. In the same year, she spoke before the National March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights. Navratilova is also involved with various charities that benefit animal rights and underprivileged children. There are many more instances, however the question is whether its controversies which make this game popular or is it popularity of the game that give rise to controversies? Whatever be the case the fact remains that women’s tennis has a long way to go and time awaits many more Stars in Women's Tennis.
By Ranjan Shandilya Published: 11/16/2007