This week, Diana Shnaider, the 19-year-old from Russia who has her head scarves sewn to size, descends upon Indian Wells like a Valkyrie, flaxen tresses locked down for battle. Her remarkable bandana-cum-babuskha got us to look up, briefly, from the desert Plexipave courts and consider the many sartorial choices players have made where headbands are concerned. Forthwith, we surmise some whys and several wherefores of tennis headband choices. We encourage you to use this guide as a metaphorical bingo card this week as the pros trot out their headgear.
To keep your flapper bangs from, well, flapping: It didn’t hurt that Suzanne Lenglen’s Ur-headband looked just like the fashion headwear of the day, adding a soupçon of style to athletic necessity and rocketing women’s tennis into popular culture, where it belongs.
To keep a truly prodigious head of hair from getting out of hand: Gustavo Kuerten’s mop was never going to submit to a mere headband, which makes us wonder whether he was wearing it for EMPHASIS.