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Meet the Lady Gaga of tennis.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands — who shares a designer with the pop star — serves up the US Open’s wildest outfits, hitting the court in eye-popping leopard-print dresses that show off her bicep tattoos, gold headbands, colorful knee-high socks and artistic eye black.
The 26-year-old Rochester, Minn., native, who at No. 35 is the second-highest ranked American female tennis player after Serena Williams, told The Post she decided to become a Fashion Don’t to distinguish herself from the stream of interchangeable players who compete in traditional tennis garb.
“I remember watching a match on TV, and the two girls playing were both blond, dressed head to toe in the exact same thing, and I couldn’t tell them apart,” said Mattek-Sands. “I was like, ‘No way, never again.’ ”
The 5-foot-6, 145-pound slammer started making her on-court fashion statements in 2003, when Adidas, her clothing sponsor, dumped her. Scrounging in her suitcase, she pulled out a neon-orange mesh top she typically saved for clubbing.
“I said, ‘Screw it, I’m wearing this,’ ” recalled Mattek-Sands, now sponsored by Under Armour.
When she showed up to the 2005 US Open in sequined cowboy hat, the US Tennis Association fined her $1,000 for failing to sport “proper tennis attire.”
Last year, she showed up at buttoned-up Wimbledon in an ivory jacket adorned with white tennis balls designed by Lady Gaga collaborator Alex Noble. Fans went wild.
“At Wimbledon, you have to be creative,” she said.
At the Open, Mattek-Sands has chosen a sexy Uncle Sam get-up. She’s cut one sleeve off a body-hugging blue Under Armour top and paired it with a white tennis skirt and socks in an American flag pattern. She hit the court in red Under Armour sneakers.
But her top priority is winning matches, which she hasn’t had much luck doing in Queens. Last week, she lost 6-1, 6-3 to Slovenia’s Polon Hercog on the first day.
But she’s still competing in doubles. She and partner, Australian Jarmila Gajdosova, won Friday and will take the court again today. A win would get them into the quarter-finals.
“I think for my next look, I’m going to pull out a totally preppy collared shirt to throwback to the ’80s tennis outfits,” she said. “I’m never too comfortable with one thing for too long.”