WOMEN'S TENNIS DRESSES

There is a new style in women's tennis dresses this year. Well, dress is probably the wrong word. It is more of a frilly skirt, almost a tutu really, worn over leggings that go down to the knees. Preferably of a different colour. Nadia Petrova is the leading exponent, but there are others.

Call me reactionary, but I have to say that I think they are ghastly. Not quite as ghastly as Svetlana Kuznetsova's shorts, which wouldn't look amiss on a prep-school boy; but nearly. I think it's the frills that get me, they just don't seem right for an activity that is designed to make you sweat.

The men, by contrast, are looking more elegant. Gone is the rather nasty "all-black" look of 5 years ago, now it is just baggy white shorts, and a simple coloured shirt. Roger Federer is looking particularly fetching in blue this year. But then, he doesn't ever really sweat.

Walter Blotscher