Serena Williams' Impact on Fashion in the Tennis World

This year's U.S. Open overlaps with New York Fashion Week and as the tournament moves into the fourth round, the matchups keep getting tougher, in play and in fashion. Serena Williams is one of the most talked about athletes, and her wardrobe is one big topic of conversation.

It seems as though this importance of fashion for this year's U.S. Open is because the Open ends on Sept. 13, while New York Fashion Week kicks off on the 10^th. (It's probably also because Vogue Editor-In-Chief, Anna Wintour, is a tennis fan who recently featured Serena Williams on the cover of Vogue's August issue.)

In weird "fashion news," according to Complex Magazine, Rafael Nadal brought fashion to tennis is an odd way, as he recently took part in a very public game of "strip tennis," where he played against a few Tommy Hilfiger models. They all played for points and lost some of the clothes off their backs in the process. This isn't the sort of "fashion" we're speaking of -- we're talking about how the center court has become a fashion runway, where an athlete's game isn't the only thing being scrutinized because their outfits are too.

A few notable fashion trends that have made appearances in the U.S. Open include snakeskin print, lace, camouflage, neon, plaid, stripes and color blocking. All of which Serena Williams has followed.

According to The New York Times, other tennis athletes have been following this year's fashion trends on court as well. Including Caroline Wozniacki, Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori.

Caroline Wozniacki rocked a color-blocked navy-white-nude Stella McCartney for Adidas outfit:

Rafael Nada wore a Nike shirt with camouflage similar to the camouflage seen on Neil Barrett's runway:

Kei Nishikori wore a periwinkle blue argyle print from Uniqlo which looks similar to a look from Gucci:

While Serena Williams wore a coral and black-colored snakeskin print ensemble:

According to The New York Times, prior to the start of the U.S. Open, Williams opened up about her collection, Serena Greatness, designed in collaboration with Nike. Although her collection is not strictly an on-court look, it's still tennis fashion. Her collection includes two dresses (one for day games and one for evening games), three pairs of shoes and a bomber-style jacket.

It seems like fashion on-court is becoming just as important as off-court fashion has been.