Bethanie Mattek

WIMBLEDON, England — Four years ago, the last time Bethanie Mattek-Sands played Wimbledon during a World Cup, soccer inspired her outfit, and her outfit inspired outrage. Andy Murray’s mother told reporters she would have sent her son home to change if he had dressed like that.

Mattek-Sands bought the outfit — high, soccer-style socks; short shorts; tank top; chandelier earrings — at Harrods. She lost that year to Venus Williams, who is no stranger to unusual fashion statements (Williams said Monday her dress was inspired by Tina Turner), but Mattek-Sands earned lasting notice, nonetheless.

“I didn’t think it was that crazy of an outfit,” she said. “I opted for sporty.”

Officials approached Mattek-Sands after the match; at first, she thought she would be fined. Instead, they wanted to collect the socks. Those socks now hang in the Wimbledon Museum, a short walk from where Mattek-Sands, 25, lost in the first round of women’s singles Monday to Karolina Sprem of Croatia, 6-3, 6-4.

Mattek-Sands again sported high socks, but she toned down the rest of her outfit considerably. Of course, she also plays in women’s doubles, as part of the fifth-seeded team, and mixed doubles, so there is still time.

For some time after past wardrobe incidents, Mattek-Sands said she had to obtain approval for her outfits. But she said she was far removed from fashion extravaganzas like the cowboy hat at the 2005 United States Open or the leopard print outfit at the 2007 Open.

Still, the main picture on her Web site shows Mattek-Sands with a diamond-studded racket and aviator sunglasses. Another picture shows her next to an alligator.

Combine that with the elaborate tattoo on her right bicep, and Mattek-Sands does not lack for style all her own. Just ask the strangers in Acapulco, Mexico, who exclaimed, “You’re the girl with the socks!”

Of course, Mattek-Sands would like to be known for more than her fashion statements. She reached a career-high ranking of 37 shortly before 2009, but then she needed hip surgery to repair a torn labrum, bone spurs and floating cartilage.

She came back too early, hurt herself again and struggled through most of 2009. Eventually, Mattek-Sands started working with Jay Schroeder, a trainer in Arizona. He works with several Arizona Cardinals, and they trained with her. Even there, she said, players told her: “I Googled you. You’re that girl.”

Since that training, Mattek-Sands has excelled in Federation Cup matches for the United States, even beating two Russians in one day, a first for an American woman.

She hopes that women’s tennis players begin to express themselves more through fashion, as Williams did at the French Open, but particularly at Wimbledon, whether inspired by Tina Turner or anybody else.

“I like funky,” Mattek-Sands said.

After her playing career ends, she said, she is interested in studying fashion, maybe returning to school to earn a related degree. That is definitely not in line with the vocations of other family members. Her husband works in insurance, and her father is an accountant.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands? She is that girl, with those socks.