Tennis and visors: the next sport-fashion trend? Aerodynamics and vision
From an element of pure avant-garde, today visors have become a staple across virtually every sport, as well as within the streetwear sphere thanks to the rise of athleisure. We thought we had seen it all, but while working on another article we came across Meredith McGrath and her incredible looks showcased at Wimbledon. In the sacred temple of tennis, where players can only compete dressed strictly in white, forcing every brand to comply with this rule, McGrath brought futuristic lenses onto the court.
A break from tradition, yet the surprise generated by these images likely stems more from the fact that today no professional tennis players wear sunglasses, rather than from the oddity of seeing visors in a context different from running or cycling.
The origins of visors between cycling and running
There is no definitive way to trace the exact origins of visors. The most widely accepted version dates their emergence back to 1985, thanks to the liaison between Greg LeMond and Oakley, creating a technical tool that set a new paradigm by replacing aviator-style sunglasses that had dominated the cycling scene up until that moment. From then on, visors became a must-have that gradually extended their influence to other sports.
Running, and more broadly athletics, were inevitably swept up by this trend. The primary purpose of visors is to support athletic performance by limiting interference caused by wind and light, thanks to lightweight frames paired with lenses made from materials resistant to any weather condition. These factors can influence the results of marathon runners, sprinters, middle-distance athletes, as well as long jumpers and high jumpers. For instance, Mutaz Essa Barshim, who in 2021 won the gold medal ex aequo with Gianmarco Tamberi by clearing 2.37 meters, competed wearing a pair of visors.
A special mention in this category goes to the Over The Top: the futuristic model developed by Oakley and worn by Ato Boldon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Its arched frame fits the head perfectly, like a glove. Its bizarre design has nevertheless become iconic, thanks to Peter Yee's intuition in creating a pair of sunglasses inspired by the very first model of the Time Bomb watch.
The influence of Michael Jordan
Another sport where visors found fertile ground is baseball: much like in cycling, sunglasses have always been part of the game, but visors became the new standard between the 1980s and 1990s. One of the reasons behind this rapid adoption is undoubtedly Michael Jordan, who repeatedly wore futuristic visors during his brief stint with the Birmingham Barons, the franchise affiliated with the Chicago White Sox of MLB.
Even winter sports are not immune to this phenomenon: visors are in fact a fundamental tool in cross-country skiing, biathlon, speed skating, and short track. This type of eyewear can be considered an adaptation of ski goggles used in alpine skiing or the visors used in motorsport.
Will the future of visors be in tennis?
A long journey that brings us back to the beginning, as tennis could become the future of visors. André Agassi was the greatest exponent of this trend at the height of his stylistic flamboyance, when he still sported wild blond hair paired with a bandana and a pair of Oakley glasses, sometimes with clear lenses and sometimes with darker gradients. Today, however, sunglasses belong more to the amateur realm, a tool used more in clubs than on professional circuits.
And yet, the relationship between tennis players and visors has never truly disappeared. For instance, illesteva has developed a special line in collaboration with Nick Kyrgios, while Oliver Peoples has worked with Roger Federer to create a line of visors. These examples belong more to the fashion sphere than to on-court performance, but they confirm how tennis remains particularly receptive to such tools. We may soon witness their return on court—or see them established as an accessory to wear after the match.
