History and aesthetics of tennis caps

Tennis, like any other sport, is shaped by aesthetic trends that evolve over time. In just the past few months, we've witnessed the tank top invasion and the sneaker revival. Each tennis player also develops their own personal flair, a trait that consciously or unconsciously sets them apart. This is the case with Jannik Sinner and his cap. A trademark throughout his career, at the 2025 edition of Roland-Garros Sinner took to the court wearing a blue cap matching his shorts, along with a green shirt. This color combination reappeared after matches as well, this time through a long-sleeve rugby polo with horizontal stripes.

Tennis players are arguably the most obsessed with routine, if only because the sport itself demands mechanical repetition of movements game after game in order to win. They need small personal rituals to find focus, resetting their emotions after a point won or lost. Within this psychological framework lies Sinner’s decision to wear a cap on court: “Playing with a cap is really important to me—almost like a helmet is for MotoGP riders… In an interview, Valentino Rossi said that when he pulls down his visor, the only thing that matters is the race. For me, that moment is when it’s just about tennis.”

Beyond Sinner's personal case, caps are much more than a mere aesthetic trend in tennis. They’ve changed shape, color, size, and material, but they’ve always been an integral part of the game.

The Origins

Hats have been a feature on tennis courts ever since the first match was played. Due to the sport’s aristocratic nature—where elegance and impeccable style were mandatory—the relationship between tennis and hats developed organically, as if one could not exist without the other.

René Lacoste, founder of the iconic crocodile-branded label, was one of the pioneers of caps among professional tennis players, often seen pairing a flat cap with his signature polo shirt or button-down and long trousers. In the 1920s, other hat styles for men included fedoras, berets and even legionnaire caps.

Going back further, during the Victorian era, women first wore boater hats on court. At the time, aesthetic standards dictated—or at least allowed—women to play in the same style they wore to social events: long dresses with corsets, and most importantly, hats adorned with feathers or floral decorations.

Visors

Elegant hats gradually disappeared from women's tennis courts, being replaced by early versions of headbands — refined fabrics tied around the nape. This trend was ahead of its time and launched by Suzanne Lenglen, tennis’s first true fashion icon in the 1920s, becoming an instant cult favorite.

A major shift occurred in the early 1930s thanks to American player Helen Wills, who introduced the first prototypes of visors—hats with open tops. Unlike today’s more athletic-looking versions, these early visors retained a refined elegance with softer brims, resembling fedoras with the crown removed.

Visors later vanished from professional tennis, though they experienced a resurgence in amateur clubs during the 1980s via brightly colored plastic models. They became associated with golf and shifted into a male-dominated accessory. A comeback in women’s tennis occurred in the late '90s and early 2000s thanks to Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova, who both rose to prominence sporting visors.

Decline and Rise Among Men

Caps also underwent a slow but steady disappearance from tennis courts among men. The aristocratic style yielded to new aesthetic norms, and the final nail in the coffin came in the 1970s and '80s with the Borg-McEnroe rivalry: both players made the headband their signature look, influencing an entire generation. The turning point came in 1989 when Jim Courier won his first ATP title in Basel wearing a baseball cap. It became his trademark—and signaled the start of a trend that soon spread across major sportswear brands.

The introduction of baseball caps signalled a real change. While hats had always been part of tennis, they now became tools, like rackets, used to block sunlight or absorb sweat. At the same time, they spawned a fashion trend and created a new market of consumers who would wear tennis-style caps off the court.

And if there’s one garment that broke completely with the past in the 1990s, all roads lead to the Nike–Andre Agassi duo. On July 5, 1992, Agassi won Wimbledon for the first time. In the now-iconic photos, he’s wearing a white Nike cap, with a long ponytail flowing from the back. From that moment on, baseball caps became permanent fixtures on the tennis court.

Backwards Caps

As previously noted, caps came back into fashion as functional gear for players, but by 2000 a new trend had emerged: tennis players began wearing their caps backwards, with the brim facing the back and the ponytail opening at the forehead. While baseball caps were tolerated by purists, this new look was not—sparking debate and division between those who found it comfortable and those who saw no point in the style. It felt like a slap in the face to tennis’s sartorial tradition.

The backwards cap was popularized by Lleyton Hewitt, who won the 2001 US Open with a standard baseball cap, then switched to a closed-back cap for the trophy ceremony—leaning more towards streetwear than sportswear. From that point, there was no turning back. Wearing a backwards cap was simply cool, and many modern players, including Matteo Berrettini and Holger Rune, have adopted the look. It’s also a common sight during practice sessions, where the reversed cap adds a more casual vibe compared to the mental rigidity of match play.

In terms of style, Nick Kyrgios is one of the few players to truly break all the moulds. The Australian not only wore his cap backwards, but also often opted for softer styles with pliable brims that were flipped up at the front — a nod to cycling aesthetics.

Not Just Sinner

Caps are still an integral part of tennis aesthetics. We mentioned Jannik Sinner at the beginning, but also the rising star of the sport, Joao Fonseca, steps onto the court wearing a cap branded by On, his technical sponsor. In the women’s game, On also supplies the caps worn by Iga Swiatek, and both players bring to the court an aesthetic inherited from running, which has always been the activity most closely associated with the Swiss brand.

Tommy Paul, on the other hand, has embraced a completely different aesthetic direction, as New Balance has designed a series of trucker caps for him. Unlike traditional models, these do not feature a curved front panel but instead maintain mesh in the back portion.

Visors also continue to be part of the women’s tennis scene thanks to top players like Paula Badosa, Emma Raducanu, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, and Mirra Andreeva, while Madison Keys sports a classic cap. Her success at the 2025 edition of the Australian Open has made her a style inspiration for young American tennis players.

Overall, hats may have changed in form, but they have never left the world of tennis. In fact, now they seem here to stay. For players, they represent a comfort zone to retreat to when they need to regain focus: they touch the brim, shift it, remove it and then put it back on. For brands, it's another way to capitalise on the popularity of tennis core and encourage millions of people to dress like their idols, whether that's in the office, at the gym, on the court or in everyday life.