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TENNIS LIVING MAGAZINE
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ROCHESTER MAGAZINE
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Friday, April 24, 2009 5:34 AM ET
By Erin Bruehl, USTA.com
BRNO, Czech Republic -- There was a time when Bethanie Mattek’s reputation in tennis had as much or more to do with her funky outfits on the court as it did with her actual game.
People heard about her clothes, like the leopard print, the cowboy hat and the high socks, and wondered what outfit she would bring out next instead of what moves she would bring in the match.
But that has all changed.
The crazy outfits are gone, her play and ranking have skyrocketed, she has a new married name, and now she is the top-ranked American player on the U.S. Fed Cup Team this weekend, trying to defeat the Czech Republic in the semifinals and advance to its first final since 2003.
Now Bethanie Mattek-Sands, after marrying Justin Sands in November 2008, thinks mostly about how to improve when it
comes to tennis, how to develop
strategies against her
opponents and how to get in the best shape possible to see good results on the court.
Mattek-Sands, now a redhead, as well, received much criticism over the years for her fashion choices, but now critiques should be reserved only for her choice of shots and serves and not her attire.
“I have toned it down a little bit. There are things I would and wouldn’t do again. For me, it was fun. It was my personality. I didn’t do it for the press, I was in the mood for it,” Mattek-Sands said.
“It was not helping me,” she added of why the funky outfits have disappeared. “I was getting a lot of bad press, and I wanted to focus on my tennis instead of stressing out about what I was going to wear. I just focused on my tennis and put the outfits on the back burner.”
The original outfits started about four years ago when, at the Australian Open, she was cut from her Adidas sponsorship. Not wanting to wear the Adidas tennis gear then that she had brought with her, Mattek-Sands improvised with what else she had, including clothes she would wear when going out.
But the focus on tennis now has surged Mattek-Sands, 24, to career heights, starting in early 2008. To compare the changes, she finished 2007 ranked No. 112 in the world, and in March 2009, she hit a career-high ranking of No. 37.
She currently sits at No. 39 and is the third-highest ranked American woman in the world behind only Serena and Venus Williams.
In 2008, she reached the semifinals or finals of three USTA Pro Circuit events in a row, including winning the title at $75,000 Dothan, and she qualified for the French Open, narrowly missing reaching the third round with a three-set loss to Maria Sharapova.
Also during the 2008 French Open, Justin Sands proposed, and the couple began planning a wedding right away, thinking about marrying in Scotland during Wimbledon. The wedding plans changed but not because of their relationship, which Mattek-Sands said was love-at-first-sight and began about a year and a half ago, when she moved to Phoenix.
Mattek-Sands and Sands were both patients of a doctor in Pennsylvania, who recommended Mattek-Sands go to Phoenix. He mentioned he had another client and friend there – Sands – whom she should meet. The rest is history.
But postponing the wedding instead had everything to do with Mattek-Sands’ outstanding tennis.
She entered Wimbledon never having advanced past the second round in singles at a Grand Slam. But the All England Club became the site of a career first, as Mattek-Sands reached the third round against 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli and proceeded to defeat the Frenchwoman in a dominating straight-sets fashion to advance to the fourth round of a major for the first time against Serena Williams.
And that week, she also received her engagement ring.
Mattek-Sands then had to call her future mother-in-law and say the wedding to her son had to be slightly delayed. She had to play Serena Williams on Monday.
“He gave me the rock at Wimbledon, and I had a great Wimbledon, so I’m like, ‘I should do this more often’,” she joked of her great run. “That is the best I have felt in a Slam, the best I have done in a Slam. Beating Bartoli was great. She was the finalist the year before. It gave me loads of confidence that I could compete consistently at that level.
“I had to call his mom and say I have to cancel the wedding plan because I can’t get married Sunday and play Serena on Monday,” Mattek-Sands added. ”I felt bad, but I said, 'I still want to marry your son, don’t worry.’”
In July 2008, she reached the semifinals in Los Angeles – one of the stops in the Olympus US Open Series – and shortly thereafter broke into the top 50 in the WTA Rankings for the first time.
She reached the second round at the US Open (wearing BeBe Sport, her new clothing line) and then in October, she reached her first career WTA Tour final in Quebec City, falling to her now-doubles partner Nadia Petrova in three sets.
“It was just progressively getting better,” Mattek-Sands said of her tennis in 2008. “I worked a lot on strategy last year and a lot on fitness, and I think both of those two things really helped me win some matches.”
She also changed trainers last year and started working with a coach – Matias Polonski – after not previously having one. Polonski is also Petrova’s coach.
“I have always been into fitness; it is just a matter of finding the right (routine),” she said. “I was just getting injured a lot during my career, and it is still a struggle for me, and I am constantly working on it. But my trainer is starting to travel with me more, keeping me healthy.
“Strategy was just brought up to me for the first time last year,” she added. “Before that, I was just playing, and I just hit a ball somewhere. There was really nothing else to it. So once I started doing that, the play started slowing down a little bit for me.”
Her left hip began to bother her back in Los Angeles, and after Quebec City, Mattek-Sands did not compete again because of it until Indian Wells in March 2009. The injury – and the affects of compensating for it – kept her out of the 2009 Australian Open and out of the U.S. Fed Cup Team’s quarterfinal tie against Argentina in February, amongst other tournaments.
The quarterfinal tie was played in Surprise, Ariz., near Mattek-Sands’ home, and it was to have been her Fed Cup debut. It was disappointing, but she still came to watch and cheer on the team, looking forward to the next tie, which has now arrived.
Mattek-Sands is the No. 1 singles player for the U.S. team this weekend. She starts play against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic and ends it on Sunday in the doubles match with Liezel Huber. And the hip is now feeling much better.
“My goal from the offseason was to be back in time for Fed Cup, and I just couldn’t do it,” she said of the quarterfinal tie. “I was practicing OK, but as far as competing against someone like Gisela (Dulko, of Argentina), I wanted to leave it to people who felt 100 percent, instead of like 80 that I did. I really rooted them on, and I’m glad they won so I was able to come here to Brno.”
But her time away from the court was filled with a huge bright spot. She finally became Bethanie Mattek-Sands in November 2008 in Naples, Fla., in front of her whole family.
A black-and-white theme and zebra prints filled the wedding, as all the guests wore black and white. Mattek-Sands herself turned the tables and wore a black wedding gown, and it was her bridesmaids who wore white dresses.
“We had a fabulous wedding. I have a black-and-white diamond ring; it looks like zebra print,” she said of her wedding ring. “We kind of had a safari theme. Our cake was zebra print, and my shoes were zebra print. My mom was like, ‘Are you sure you want to wear black?’ And I said yes. I think she asked me that like five times.
“I’m so glad I did it that way,” she added of getting married in front of her family with her two younger brothers and sister in the wedding. “We were just going to go to Vegas, but my family wouldn’t be into that, and Justin is an only child, and I wouldn’t want to do that to his mom.”
In 2009, she has been playing doubles with Petrova, and she had a great lead up to the Fed Cup tie, with the pair winning the doubles title in Charleston last week for her first doubles title of the season. They will also team up for the tournament coming up after Fed Cup in Stuttgart.
She also launched her new website, www.bmattek.com, in which she is enjoying blogging at least once a week and, as of now, is personally answering all of the questions she receives from fans.
And there are some things about her that many of those fans do not know, including that despite her creative outfits of the past, Mattek-Sands does not have the loud personality that many would suppose all of the time.
“I guess what fans don’t know about me is that I am actually kind of a shy person,” she said. “Everyone sees me in these outlandish outfits, and I’m actually pretty shy and reserved most of the time, although other times I am pretty outgoing.”
The high socks she once wore at Wimbledon are her favorite of the past outfits, and there is a chance they could resurface again somewhere. And despite much negative criticism in the press, any fans she directly heard from all raved about her originality.
But for 2009, it is about winning points, winning matches and continuing to improve her tennis. Sands, a former football player, will also be traveling with her some this year, which will only help her improve.
“Justin is just great support. He knows what goes into being a great athlete. He will train with me, be on the court with me, and he just really knows how to help me out,” Mattek-Sands said of her husband.
“(For 2009) it is really just expanding on what I did last year. I’m feeling good again, my fitness is way up, and I feel like I’m moving a lot better than I even was last year,” she said of her goals. “It is just a matter of getting out there and playing more matches again. I have only played four tournaments this year so far, so I will have a lot of tournaments between now and Wimbledon that will be good opportunities, and I am excited for them.”
BRNO, Czech Republic -- There was a time when Bethanie Mattek’s reputation in tennis had as much or more to do with her funky outfits on the court as it did with her actual game. People heard about her clothes, like the leopard print, the cowboy hat and the high socks, and wondered what outfit she would bring out next instead of what moves she would bring in the match.
But that has all changed. The crazy outfits are gone, her play and ranking have skyrocketed, she has a new married name, and now she is the top-ranked American player on the U.S. Fed Cup Team this weekend, trying to defeat the Czech Republic in the semifinals and advance to its first final since 2003.
Now Bethanie Mattek-Sands, after marrying Justin Sands in November 2008, thinks mostly about how to improve when it
comes to tennis, how to develop
strategies against her opponents and how to get in the best shape possible to see good results on the court.
Mattek-Sands, now a redhead, as well, received much criticism over the years for her fashion choices, but now critiques should be reserved only for her choice of shots and serves and not her attire.
“I have toned it down a little bit. There are things I would and wouldn’t do again. For me, it was fun. It was my personality. I didn’t do it for the press, I was in the mood for it,” Mattek-Sands said.
“It was not helping me,” she added of why the funky outfits have disappeared. “I was getting a lot of bad press, and I wanted to focus on my tennis instead of stressing out about what I was going to wear. I just focused on my tennis and put the outfits on the back burner.”
The original outfits started about four years ago when, at the Australian Open, she was cut from her Adidas sponsorship. Not wanting to wear the Adidas tennis gear then that she had brought with her, Mattek-Sands improvised with what else she had, including clothes she would wear when going out.
But the focus on tennis now has surged Mattek-Sands, 24, to career heights, starting in early 2008. To compare the changes, she finished 2007 ranked No. 112 in the world, and in March 2009, she hit a career-high ranking of No. 37.
She currently sits at No. 39 and is the third-highest ranked American woman in the world behind only Serena and Venus Williams.
In 2008, she reached the semifinals or finals of three USTA Pro Circuit events in a row, including winning the title at $75,000 Dothan, and she qualified for the French Open, narrowly missing reaching the third round with a three-set loss to Maria Sharapova.
Also during the 2008 French Open, Justin Sands proposed, and the couple began planning a wedding right away, thinking about marrying in Scotland during Wimbledon. The wedding plans changed but not because of their relationship, which Mattek-Sands said was love-at-first-sight and began about a year and a half ago, when she moved to Phoenix.
Mattek-Sands and Sands were both patients of a doctor in Pennsylvania, who recommended Mattek-Sands go to Phoenix. He mentioned he had another client and friend there – Sands – whom she should meet. The rest is history.
But postponing the wedding instead had everything to do with Mattek-Sands’ outstanding tennis.
She entered Wimbledon never having advanced past the second round in singles at a Grand Slam. But the All England Club became the site of a career first, as Mattek-Sands reached the third round against 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli and proceeded to defeat the Frenchwoman in a dominating straight-sets fashion to advance to the fourth round of a major for the first time against Serena Williams.
And that week, she also received her engagement ring.
Mattek-Sands then had to call her future mother-in-law and say the wedding to her son had to be slightly delayed. She had to play Serena Williams on Monday.
“He gave me the rock at Wimbledon, and I had a great Wimbledon, so I’m like, ‘I should do this more often’,” she joked of her great run. “That is the best I have felt in a Slam, the best I have done in a Slam. Beating Bartoli was great. She was the finalist the year before. It gave me loads of confidence that I could compete consistently at that level.
“I had to call his mom and say I have to cancel the wedding plan because I can’t get married Sunday and play Serena on Monday,” Mattek-Sands added. ”I felt bad, but I said, 'I still want to marry your son, don’t worry.’”
In July 2008, she reached the semifinals in Los Angeles – one of the stops in the Olympus US Open Series – and shortly thereafter broke into the top 50 in the WTA Rankings for the first time.
She reached the second round at the US Open (wearing BeBe Sport, her new clothing line) and then in October, she reached her first career WTA Tour final in Quebec City, falling to her now-doubles partner Nadia Petrova in three sets.
“It was just progressively getting better,” Mattek-Sands said of her tennis in 2008. “I worked a lot on strategy last year and a lot on fitness, and I think both of those two things really helped me win some matches.”
She also changed trainers last year and started working with a coach – Matias Polonski – after not previously having one. Polonski is also Petrova’s coach.
“I have always been into fitness; it is just a matter of finding the right (routine),” she said. “I was just getting injured a lot during my career, and it is still a struggle for me, and I am constantly working on it. But my trainer is starting to travel with me more, keeping me healthy.
“Strategy was just brought up to me for the first time last year,” she added. “Before that, I was just playing, and I just hit a ball somewhere. There was really nothing else to it. So once I started doing that, the play started slowing down a little bit for me.”
Her left hip began to bother her back in Los Angeles, and after Quebec City, Mattek-Sands did not compete again because of it until Indian Wells in March 2009. The injury – and the affects of compensating for it – kept her out of the 2009 Australian Open and out of the U.S. Fed Cup Team’s quarterfinal tie against Argentina in February, amongst other tournaments.
The quarterfinal tie was played in Surprise, Ariz., near Mattek-Sands’ home, and it was to have been her Fed Cup debut. It was disappointing, but she still came to watch and cheer on the team, looking forward to the next tie, which has now arrived.
Mattek-Sands is the No. 1 singles player for the U.S. team this weekend. She starts play against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic and ends it on Sunday in the doubles match with Liezel Huber. And the hip is now feeling much better.
“My goal from the offseason was to be back in time for Fed Cup, and I just couldn’t do it,” she said of the quarterfinal tie. “I was practicing OK, but as far as competing against someone like Gisela (Dulko, of Argentina), I wanted to leave it to people who felt 100 percent, instead of like 80 that I did. I really rooted them on, and I’m glad they won so I was able to come here to Brno.”
But her time away from the court was filled with a huge bright spot. She finally became Bethanie Mattek-Sands in November 2008 in Naples, Fla., in front of her whole family.
A black-and-white theme and zebra prints filled the wedding, as all the guests wore black and white. Mattek-Sands herself turned the tables and wore a black wedding gown, and it was her bridesmaids who wore white dresses.
“We had a fabulous wedding. I have a black-and-white diamond ring; it looks like zebra print,” she said of her wedding ring. “We kind of had a safari theme. Our cake was zebra print, and my shoes were zebra print. My mom was like, ‘Are you sure you want to wear black?’ And I said yes. I think she asked me that like five times.
“I’m so glad I did it that way,” she added of getting married in front of her family with her two younger brothers and sister in the wedding. “We were just going to go to Vegas, but my family wouldn’t be into that, and Justin is an only child, and I wouldn’t want to do that to his mom.”
In 2009, she has been playing doubles with Petrova, and she had a great lead up to the Fed Cup tie, with the pair winning the doubles title in Charleston last week for her first doubles title of the season. They will also team up for the tournament coming up after Fed Cup in Stuttgart.
She also launched her new website, www.bmattek.com, in which she is enjoying blogging at least once a week and, as of now, is personally answering all of the questions she receives from fans.
And there are some things about her that many of those fans do not know, including that despite her creative outfits of the past, Mattek-Sands does not have the loud personality that many would suppose all of the time.
“I guess what fans don’t know about me is that I am actually kind of a shy person,” she said. “Everyone sees me in these outlandish outfits, and I’m actually pretty shy and reserved most of the time, although other times I am pretty outgoing.”
The high socks she once wore at Wimbledon are her favorite of the past outfits, and there is a chance they could resurface again somewhere. And despite much negative criticism in the press, any fans she directly heard from all raved about her originality.
But for 2009, it is about winning points, winning matches and continuing to improve her tennis. Sands, a former football player, will also be traveling with her some this year, which will only help her improve.
“Justin is just great support. He knows what goes into being a great athlete. He will train with me, be on the court with me, and he just really knows how to help me out,” Mattek-Sands said of her husband.
“(For 2009) it is really just expanding on what I did last year. I’m feeling good again, my fitness is way up, and I feel like I’m moving a lot better than I even was last year,” she said of her goals. “It is just a matter of getting out there and playing more matches again. I have only played four tournaments this year so far, so I will have a lot of tournaments between now and Wimbledon that will be good opportunities, and I am excited for them.”
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