Player Hits Wimbledon in Gaga-Like Jacket

Bethanie Mattek-Sands promised Wimbledon had never seen anything like it, and she wasn't kidding. The 26-year-old American, famous for her unusual fashion taste, arrived on court today for her first-round match wearing a white fringed jacket with 12 tennis balls cut in half stitched down each silver-studded sleeve. She didn't play in it, but that didn't help her avoid a loss to Japan's Misaki Doi, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

The jacket was the work of British designer Alex Noble, who has also collaborated with Lady Gaga. (Mattek-Sands is a big fan.) He also designed a dress for Mattek-Sands' appearance at the WTA's Wimbledon party last week. That understated number was fluorescent yellow, with yellow tennis balls stitched into the corset and a Mohican-style headpiece. Click for a video of more off-court Wimbledon doings. (More Wimbledon stories.)