"Svelte and pretty" take over groundstrokes in women's tennis

Melbourne, Jan 24(ANI): In the modern day tennis world, female tennis players are treated by the press as pin-up girls whose clothes and bodies are critiqued and scrutinized as much as their groundstrokes.

Though the Sharapovas, Kirilenkos, Dementievas and the fashion-loving Williams sisters continue to grace the courts, it seems there is always this fascination with how these women look in a dress, rather than their sporting prowess.

Russian beauty Maria Sharapova is certainly one of them for the diamond earrings, self designed sunglasses and tennis dresses that resemble fancy cocktail frocks.

Sharapova's gauzy green frock, which she wore in the Australian Open was launched at a press conference a week earlier, and it had journalists and commentators gushing like lovesick teenagers, The Age reports.

The fascination can also be described by the way media around the world used terms like "angelic", "elegant and fit", "svelte and pretty" and "eye-catching" to depict various female tennis players.

In a press conference, Maria Kirilenko, the woman who ousted Sharapova from the first round of the tournament, was asked what she thought of her compatriot's outfit.

Kirilenko said it looked like the colour of "Powerade", but was "nice".

While discussing about glamour in tennis, it is hard to ignore Anna Kournikova's role in all of this.

When the Russian with the cheerleader good-looks turned up to play in her micro shorts and bra tops, it was easy to be distracted from the game itself. She was treated more like a pop princess than a professional tennis player.

Her face and supermodel body was splashed across magazines and billboards and she could be found on the red carpet as often as the tennis court.

It's a big question if this current obsession with the glamour, rather than the game, of women's tennis will ever die down. May be never if the towering Russians domination continues in the game. (ANI)