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Bethanie Mattek-Sands cuts an impressive figure whenever she steps onto the tennis court. It’s kind of difficult to miss her, after all.

She has orange hair. At the US Open this year, Mattek-Sands has already drawn headlines and social media posts for her rule-pushing outfits, including a skirt that matched her ponytail She called it electric melon. Naturally.

But while Mattek-Sands, who has already won two Grand Slam doubles titles this year, may get the attention for her outfits, she should be getting it for her play. She defeated CoCo Vanedeweghe in straight sets in the second round of the Open, notching a matchup with world No. 1 Serena Williams. No one expects Mattek-Sands to win but the Minnesota native is focused on the task at hand, even if her hair is vaguely distracting. Here’s what you need to know:

1. Mattek-Sands Has Been Dubbed the ‘Lada Gaga of the Tennis World’

Mattek-Sands has developed a reputation as one of the biggest characters in the tennis world, thanks in large part to her colorful apparel and hair as well as her signature knee-high compression socks. Right now, the right-hander is sporting orange hair.

Some of Mattek-Sands most memorable outfits include leopard print looks at the 2004 and 2007 US Open,as well as  “soccer theme” at the 2006 Wimbledon Championship. However, nothing can top the ensemble she wore to the 2011 Pre-Wimbledon party in London, a fluorescent green dress by designer Alex Noble that featured tennis balls and a Mohican-style hat. The look garnered her the name “Lady Gaga of the tennis world,” from The Daily Mail.

Mattek-Sands may not be afraid to take fashion risks on or off the court and her daring dresses have helped earn a few benefits, including being chosen by Google as the first pro athlete “Glass Explorer.”

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2. She’s a Four-Time Grand Slam Champion in Doubles

While Mattek-Sands career as a singles player has been up-and-down, her success in the world of doubles has been unquestionable. She and fellow tennis standout Lucie Safarova teamed up just before the 2015 Australian Open, going on to win the title at the Grand Slam event. The pair then went on to win at the French Open as well and most recently recorded a title at the Rogers Cup in Toronto.

When she isn’t competing with Safarova, Mattek-Sands has found success in the mixed doubles world as well. She won titles at the 2012 Australian Open with Horia Tecău and the 2015 French Open with Mike Bryan.

3. Mattek-Sands Married Justin Sands in November 2008

Mattek became Mattek-Sands on November 29, 2008 when she married insurance executive Justin Sands in Naples, Florida. According to his LinkedIn page, Justin is the founder of the JPS Insurance Group and obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University at Albany in upstate New York.

Mattek-Sands was just as eccentric as ever during the wedding ceremony as well, wearing a black dress.

The couple, who live in Phoenix, Arizona, have a 140-pound Boerboel mastiff named Ruger who is the subject of a good chunk of Mattek-Sands’ social medial posts.

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4. She Played in her First WTA Tour Eent in 1999

Mattek-Sands has been on the professional tennis for years now, making her first WTA appearance in 1999 when she received a wildcard to qualify for an event in Philadelphia. The Minnesota-native fell in the first round of the event.

Since then, Mattek-Sands has been a fighter in every sense of the word, battling for position on the singles circuit over the past decade and a half. She played in her first Grand Slam in the 2000 US Open, once again given wildcard entry through the qualification rounds.

The 2015 US Open marks the thirteenth time that Mattek-Sands has competed in Flushing, Meadows. She is currently being coached by Adam Altschuler, playing with what WTA described as “a versatile, all-court style combining speed, determination, skill and agility around the net.”

5. Mattek-Sands Highest Ranking Came in 2011

After more a decade on the pro tennis circuit, Mattek-Sands reached her career-high singles ranking at No. 30. The jump came after she notched the biggest victory of her career, defeating then-world No. 7 Francesca Schiavone in January.

She reached her third WTA singles final in the 2011 Moorilla Hobart International before falling to Jarmila Groth. Mattek-Sands also competed in the French Open, making it to the third round. She was upset in the first round of Wimbledon that year, falling to No. 133 Misaki Doi.

Mattek-Sands is currently ranked No. 101 in the world singles rankings. She is, however, rankedNo. 3 in the world doubles rankings, the best of her entire career.

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By HOWARD FENDRICH Associated Press SEPTEMBER 2, 2015 — 8:30PM
Williams Williams speaks during a press conferene at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NEW YORK – The enormity of what is at stake for Serena Williams at the U.S. Open — the first true Grand Slam in tennis since 1988 — hit her Wednesday.

That, she said, is why her play was so uneven in the second round, despite facing a qualifier ranked only 110th.

And it’s why, after the 10 double-faults, two dozen unforced errors and a sloppy first set, Williams listened to pointers from coach Patrick Mouratoglou and headed straight to a practice court to put in work, hoping to repair what plagued her in a 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over the Netherlands’ Kiki Bertens.

“Today, I was a little tight,” Williams said. “I think it showed.”

On Friday, Williams will meet Rochester native Bethanie Mattek-Sands in a third-round match. Mattek-Sands made it to the third round for the first time in 13 U.S. Open appearances by beating another American, CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-2, 6-1.
“You know what? Thirty is the new 21,” said Mattek-Sands, who turned 30 in March.

Mattek-Sands is best known in tennis for her original on-court outfits and her doubles success this year, winning the Australian Open and French Open with Lucie Safarova.

As for a fashion statement against Williams?

“I’ll have to see,” Mattek-Sands said, “what I’ve got packed in my bag.”

The All England Club have enforced a strict dress code on players at this year’s grand slam stating that clothing must be ‘almost entirely white’.

They state there should be no off white shades or cream and no solid mass or panels of colouring , including no trims of colour being limited to one centimetre wide.

But one player who just can’t stop being colourful is the flamboyant American, 30-year-old Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

The tennis star from Miami, Florida, flashed her famous tattoo featuring flowers and bees, as she beat Alison Van Uytvanck from Belgium in her first round match.

Spectators were given a prime view of the inking, which runs the length of her arm, every time she served as she won the match in two sets 6-3 6-2.

The design features large pink, purple and orange flowers and includes a bee – a reference to her nickname.

While the latest dress code for Wimbledon states that players must wear ‘almost entirely white’ – down to their socks and underwear – they haven’t gone as far as ordering coloured tattoos like Bethanie’s to be covered up.

They also haven’t issued rules on the use of hair dye and and the American made full use of this omission by adding a pink streak to her blonde hair when she played today.

Bethanie is famous for adding to fashion flair to her play and has previous poked fun at the Wimbledon dress code by turning up in 2011 wearing a jacket covered in white tennis balls.

She’s often experimented with her hair colour too, dyeing it purple, red and green in 2012.

Outré though her look was, Bethanie certainly wasn’t the only tattooed player on court at day one of Wimbledon.

Karolina Pliskova, 23, of the Czech Republic wore a white vest top and a short skirt making matching tribal print tattoos on her arm and thigh visible.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3143587/Tatt-s-not-white-Bethanie-Mattek-Sands-adds-splash-colour-Wimbledon-pink-hair-floral-TATTOO.html#ixzz3rPK9gtfE