I have noticed over the past couple of years that women tennis players have started wearing a great deal more jewelry on the court — and this seems like a bigger trend among athletes in general. I always thought jewelry got in the way of sports, but now it seems as if the blingier the better. What changed? — Maureen, Pittsburgh
The story of jewelry and sports is essentially the story of fashion and sports. As personal style and branding have become more and more a part of playing the game (any game), everything an athlete wears becomes marketing — for themselves and for the brands that increasingly love, and contract, them. Eye-catching bling included.
It’s not that different from the red carpet, where the jewelry worn by celebrities is as much a financial and promotional opportunity as a statement about taste. Indeed, it’s not an accident that the tunnel walk in basketball and football and the on-court walk in tennis are known as the athlete’s red carpet.
“Sports culture has evolved,” said Brittany Hampton, a stylist who works with athletes like Sloane Stephens, Russell Westbrook and Paige Bueckers. “Fans and brands now want personality, individuality and presence on and off the court, and the athletes know they can express that through fashion.”
It’s a way to capture a chunk of the attention economy: Advertise yourself — especially important in team sports where everyone wears the same thing — and telegraph success. This is also why matters are even more extreme during events like the league drafts, when high-octane custom-made jewelry takes center stage.
But while there are practical considerations regarding actual performance wear, sports stars have more leeway when it comes to jewelry. Though some leagues have rules governing the baubles that players may wear, most are safety-related and pertain to contact sports. (The rules about wearing commercial logos are much more stringent.)
The W.N.B.A., for example, forbids all kinds of jewelry during games, as do the N.B.A. and M.L.S. The N.F.L. bans “hard objects” but doesn’t specify what those may be. (Chains and earrings seem to be OK.)
In M.L.B. pretty much anything goes, and recently it has become something of a trend among players like Miguel Rojas, Junior Caminero and Joc Pederson to take the idea of the “diamond” literally and wear Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra necklaces when they play. During the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the sprinter Noah Lyles won the 100 meters in a diamond chain, and Quincy Hall won the 400 meters in a gold grille and gold chains.
In tennis there are no regulations about jewelry — not even at Wimbledon, which famously has a very specific dress code.
That’s how we get from Chris Evert playing in the U.S. Open in 1978 wearing a thin diamond bracelet that reportedly gave the world the term “tennis bracelet,” to Emma Raducanu wearing more than $37,000 worth of pearl and diamond Tiffany jewelry at Wimbledon in 2022. (She is a Tiffany brand ambassador.) Not to mention Aryna Sabalenka, who has become a face of the jewelry line Material Good and who wore its dangling diamond and sapphire earrings with a matching pendant necklace with a 4.3 carat sapphire at the center while playing in the Australian Open in January.
“It gives me a little more energy and drive,” Sabalenka said of feeling good about her look. “I think that’s what I love about fashion, jewelry and accessories. You can still be feminine and stylish without sacrificing athleticism.”
For their part, male tennis players generally wear their bling in the form of fancy watches. Most forgo them while playing, though Rafael Nadal test-drove the Richard Mille RM 27-04 Tourbillon on court specifically to see if it could withstand tournament conditions.
And that’s why it will be interesting to see how the jewelry looks evolve at the French Open, which begins this weekend. Of all of the majors, the French Open has a reputation for being the most haute, fashion-wise. Sabalenka, for one, is planning to wear a custom-designed Material Good set of necklaces — not just one — composed of 22.51 carats of diamonds and more than 203 carats of garnets, along with coordinating earrings. Talk about a match.
Your Style Questions, Answered
Every week on Open Thread, Vanessa will answer a reader’s fashion-related question, which you can send to her anytime via email or X. Questions are edited and condensed.
