Wimbledon 2011 Fashion: Bethanie Mattek-Sands Covers Self In Tennis Balls, Loses

American Bethanie Mattek-Sands sure is taking her new title of being the “Lady Gaga of Tennis” seriously. After wearing a bright green dress covered in tennis ball pieces to the WTA’s pre-Wimbledon players’ party, Bethanie walked onto court for her first round Ladies’ Singles match at Wimbledon 2011 wearing a jacket adorned with spikes, fringe, and, of course, white tennis balls.

The whole thing looked considerably more ridiculous when she lost.

Her attire wasn’t exactly normal once she took the jacket off, either. Aside from her trademark knee socks, she wore an Under Armour top with one sleeve that went all the way to her wrist, with the other sleeve missing altogether.

Mattek-Sands, the No. 30 seed, played some of her best when her back was against the wall, breaking Doi as the young Japanese player served for the match at 5-3 in the third. But Doi broke back for the win shortly thereafter, closing out the final set 7-5 and the match 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. Mattek-Sands was upset with the final call of the match, thinking that her desperate lob had landed in. She argued with the chair umpire before shaking Doi’s hand, then walked to her chair without shaking the umpire’s hand.

She’s had good results at Wimbledon previously, beating then-defending finalist Marion Bartoli in the third round of Wimbledon 2008 before losing a tight fourth round match against Serena Williams. But she was unable to consistently summon her best today, giving Doi, who has never been ranked inside the top 100, her first win at a grand slam.

Doi’s draw gets considerably tougher from here, next facing 2008 semifinalist Zheng Jie in the second round, with a potential third round meeting with No. 3 Li Na or Sabine Lisicki looming beyond that.