Football Kits on the Tennis Court
With Belarussian tennis player Victoria Azarenka continuing to take to the court in PSG jerseys, we take a look at other occasions when football shirts have appeared on the courts.
Tennis Stars in Football Shirts
Tennis is quite a popular sport among football players, especially those in retirement. Ronaldo Fenomeno has a court at home and regularly posts photos and videos of himself with racquet in hand on social media. Paolo Maldini took it so seriously that he qualified for a pro tournament back in 2017 and his old Italy teammate Francesco Totti once played a doubles match with Nick Kyrgios.
The love between the sports appears to be mutual, with tennis stars like Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal playing in charity matches, while others show their connection to the sport in other ways. Check out all the times tennis players have work football kits on the court below.
Viktoria Azarenka
A couple of weeks ago, Azarenka took to the court in a white PSG shirt, only for the umpire to tell her she couldn't play in it. That didn't deter her too much, as she repeated the trick earlier today, this time wearing their home jersey.
Victoria Azarenka 🎾 :
— 📣 MEGA PSG (@MegaPSG_) January 16, 2023
«Pourquoi je porte toujours le maillot du PSG? Tout le monde me pose cette question. Personne ne comprend que je les soutiens depuis 2012 et la signature de Beckham. Je suis une fan depuis longtemps» pic.twitter.com/0SBW5xTRK8
Novak Djokovic
While he doesn't seem to have worn on during a tennis match, Novak Djokovic has played in quite a few charity games, once in a full Red Star Belgrade kit. He also once visited La Bombonera with Rafa Nadal where the duo were gifted with personalised jerseys.
Roger Federer
Federer wore a full Brazil kit at a tournament in Sao Paulo. The crowd probably would have been on his side anyway but that's definitely one way of winning them over.
Naomi Osaka
Former world number one Naomi Osaka gave women's side North Carolina Courage some exposure by sporting their home shirt in a match at Indian Wells last year. There was more to this than just fandom, as Osaka is also an investor in the club.
Nick Kyrgios
The Australian has warmed up in a Spurs shirt on a couple of occasions and even paid a visit to the club's training ground back in 2014.
Emma Raducanu
Spurs may be the best represented football club on the pro tennis circuit. Raducanu wore their home shirt with her name on the back on the practice courts in Germany last year.
Alexander Zverev
Zverev is a big Bayern supporter and got the chance to wear the kit in a charity football match. He held on to it and has used it in warm-ups on occasion.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas did the football kit community a favour recently when he gave Japan's 2022 away shirt some airtime at the Australian Open after it didn't get a run out at the World Cup. He's also the owner of an Argentina 2022 away jersey complete with Messi printing.
Dominic Thiem
Thiem is a proud Chelsea fan and made no secret of it when taking a practice session with some West Ham players a few years ago.
Serena Williams
Probably the best crossover moment on this list came at the 2002 French Open. Williams was sponsored by Puma at the time and played in a custom made dress modelled on Cameroon's infamous 2002 sleeveless shirt. She went on to defeat her sister in the final but had reverted to more typical tennis gear by that stage.
Rafael Nadal
Nadal's uncle Miguel played for Barcelona and a very young Rafa once appeared on the Nou Camp pitch fully decked out in Barcelona gear. Despite these family ties, Nadal is a Real Madrid supporter. He doesn't seem to have ever worn any kit on the tennis court but he's posed with quite a few off of it.
Can you think of any others that we missed out here? Let us know in the comments.
