BEYOND THE BASELINE INTERVIEW WITH BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On the Baseline’s Aaress Lawless caught up with Bethanie Mattek-Sands earlier this season to chat about Hollywood, fashion, and which WTA players she’d pick for her own basketball team.

When Fed Cup and her nation calls, the United States’ Bethanie Mattek-Sands is quick to answer. Known for her love of country and love of fashion, Mattek-Sands has become one of the most colorful personalities in American tennis.

OTB: If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you want to play yourself?

MATTEK-SANDS:I’m not really sure who I would have play it. I feel like I would need a Kate Hudson, Pink, Gwen Steffani and Charlize Theron all rolled into one. I think all those could make a great recipe for an outlandish, edgy and fashionable tennis player on the silver screen.

OTB: If you had to form a basketball team composed of only Sony Ericsson WTA Tour players, which five women would you choose?

MATTEK-SANDS:
-Petrova for her wing span
-Serena because you know she could box out and block
-Kuznetsova for her toughness
-Dementieva for her speed
-Myself for my touch/good hands


OTB: You’ve traveled extensively around the world, but are there a few places that you still want to visit?

MATTEK-SANDS: There will always be some place I want to go, but most times I just want to be home when I am not on the road. Living out of a suitcase gets old after the first two weeks.

If I had to pick a few places I would say Alaska, South Africa, Fiji, Andes Mountains and probably some of the tropical islands that I have never been to. You can always find some place new.

OTB: If you had a chance to design the outfits that the chair umpires wore during the US Open, what would you pick?

MATTEK-SANDS: Umpire attire is a bit stale. I would probably come up with some color schemes that wouldn’t be flattering at all but fun for everyone else who was playing and or watching.

Maybe we can let Bud Collins oversee the designs as well. I’m sure we could come up with something suitable for the Open.

OTB: Your tube socks have become fan favorites all over the world. How did you come about wearing them?

MATTEK-SANDS: Ah yes… the socks! I rarely get through an interview where the socks don’t come up at least once. I wore them a few years back on center court of Wimbledon and got a lot of attention for it. Actually that entire outfit that I wore is in the Wimbledon Museum.

I like trends and style so I figured why not wear something that would go against the norm of Wimbledon but yet was trendy back in the day. I brought the socks back the later part of last year and have been wearing them since. I have all kinds of color combos now and have gotten a lot of positive feedback.

Why not have a little more creativity when you play, too many times both players on the court look the same and it is boring. I like when players are original and show off some creativity like Venus, Serena and Maria. I think it is great for the sport. Fashion is such a big deal everywhere else, why not bring it onto the court as well!?!?