The Tennis Girl is a British

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text ...

of a female tennis player without underwear that has become a British pop icon.

Creation

The photograph was taken by then-30-year-old Martin Elliott in September 1976 and features 18-year-old Fiona Butler (now Walker), his girlfriend at the time. The photo was taken at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

's tennis courts (formerly Edgbaston Lawn Tennis Club) in Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham, England. The site is occupied now by the university's Tennis Court halls of residence. The dress was hand-made by Butler's friend Carol Knotts, from a Simplicity Pattern with added lace trim. Knotts also supplied the tennis racquet, with all of the borrowed items later returned by Butler to Knotts after the shoot with a box of chocolates. Butler borrowed the plimsoll shoes from her father, whilst the tennis balls were those used as playthings by her family's pet dog.

History

The image was first published as part of a calendar by

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...

for the 1977 Silver Jubilee, the same year

Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three Major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all ...

achieved the Wimbledon ladies' singles title. Athena then negotiated a licence to distribute the image as a poster, where from 1978 it achieved widespread distribution, selling over 2 million copies at £2 per poster. Although Athena went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

in 1995, the picture remains a popular print to buy and can be found at other retailers like

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

, AllPosters and King and McGaw. Butler, who broke up with Elliot three years later, said in retrospect that she was not embarrassed about posing, nor bitter that she did not receive any royalties from the photo. Butler (now Walker) is a mother of three, who works as a freelance illustrator in

Droitwich Spa Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester. T ...

, Worcestershire. Elliott died on 24 March 2010. Knotts, now a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

living in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of ...

, put the dress and racquet up for sale at an auction on 5 July 2014, the day of the

2014 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles Petra Kvitová defeated Eugenie Bouchard in the final, 6–3, 6–0 to win the ladies' singles tennis title at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. It was her second Wimbledon title and she lost only one set en route, to Venus Williams in the thi ...

final. The dress was sold for £15,000, while the racquet went for between £1000 and £2000. The Athena Tennis Girl poster dress is now part of the Wimbledon Museum collection.

Subject doubts

In February 2015, Peter Atkinson from Marsh Gate, Cornwall, came forward to insist the photo was actually of his ex-wife, producing in evidence two items, one showing the same image and the other a close variant (seemingly taken on the same occasion), both of which were dated 1974, two years before Fiona Butler's photo shoot. Atkinson had previously made the claim, on numerous occasions, that his ex-wife was the actual model, and had done so during Elliott's lifetime. Elliott consistently denied such claims.

Parody

Over the years, the picture has been parodied by various people as diverse as former tennis star Pat Cash, singer and actress

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

and comedian Alan Carr with actor

Keith Lemon Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

featuring his parody in his 2012 calendar. As an election promise for the 2012 Belgian elections, Milka Malfait, a 22-year-old candidate from Sint-Truiden promised to publish a nude photo shoot when receiving 1,000 votes. She released a picture of herself in the Tennis Girl pose prior to the elections. In 2009, it was also parodied in the exit scene from episode 12 from the sixth series of '' Shameless'' when

Lillian Tyler The following is a list of fictional characters from the English comedy-drama '' Shameless'', created by Paul Abbott, which was on Channel 4 between 2004 and 2013. The programme is set on the fictional Chatsworth Estate in suburban Manchester ...

, a character played by Alice Barry, gets up and walks towards the door after winning a game console version of tennis. The background of Martin Rowson's cartoon, "Don't feed the Trolls", appears to show a poster of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

as Tennis Girl.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , last = Sheppard , first = Fergus , title = 70s poster icon is back, so anyone for Tennis Girl? , newspaper =

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...

, date = 6 July 2007 , access-date = 18 January 2011 , url = http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1052912007 , url-status = dead , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071102055726/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1052912007 , archive-date = 2 November 2007 {{cite news , url = http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/news/local-news/tennis-poster-girl-classic-pose-3971787 , title = Tennis poster girl and her classic pose , date = 13 July 2007 , access-date = 28 June 2013 , newspaper =

Birmingham Post The ''Birmingham Post'' is a weekly printed newspaper based in Birmingham, England, with a circulation of 2,545 and distribution throughout the West Midlands. First published under the name the ''Birmingham Daily Post'' in 1857, it has had a s ...

{{cite news , url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-12833580 , title = Tennis Girl Model Revealed , date = 23 March 2011 , work =

BBC News Online BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the ...

, access-date = 20 November 2012 {{cite news , newspaper =

South Wales Evening Post The ''South Wales Evening Post'' is a tabloid daily newspaper distributed in the South West region of Wales. The paper has three daily editions – Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire – and is published by Media Wales, part ...

, date = 23 March 2011 , page = 2 , title = Picture perfect {{Cite web , url = http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=56026 , title = That poster is back - at £300 a print! , date = 5 July 2007 , access-date = 20 November 2012 , publisher = Metro.co.uk {{cite news , url = http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/mail/news/tm_headline=we-ve-got-to-the-bottom-of-a-poster-mystery&method=full&objectid=19444033&siteid=50002-name_page.html , newspaper =

Birmingham Mail The ''Birmingham Mail'' (branded the ''Black Country Mail'' in the Black Country) is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, England but distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire a ...

, first = Will , last = Oliphant , title = We've got to the bottom of a poster mystery! , date = 12 July 2007 , access-date = 20 November 2012 {{cite news , first = Andrew , last = Hough , title = 'Tennis girl' poster photographer Martin Elliott dies of cancer , newspaper =

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

, date = 2 April 2010 , access-date = 20 November 2012 , url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/7544537/Tennis-girl-poster-photographer-Martin-Elliott-dies-of-cancer.html {{cite news , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101031064332/http://www.sundaymercury.net/lifestyle-news/tm_objectid%3D17216626%26method%3Dfull%26siteid%3D50002%26headline%3Dserial-killer-s-deucey-poster-name_page.html , archive-date = 31 October 2010 , url = http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/sundaymercury/features/tm_objectid=17216626&method=full&siteid=50002&headline=serial-killer-s-deucey-poster-name_page.html , newspaper =

Sunday Mercury ''Sunday Mercury'' is a Sunday tabloid published in Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a popula ...

, first = Adam , last = Aspinall , url-status = dead , title = Serial killer's deucey poster , date = 11 June 2006 , access-date = 20 November 2012 {{cite web , url = https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/kivells/catalogue-id-kivell10034/lot-ea7589ed-c75f-4a3b-be23-a5be00908cc0 , title = 1987 Athena Tennis girl poster signed Martin Elliot , last = the-saleroom.com , website = the-saleroom.com {{cite news , url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8600863.stm , publisher = BBC News , date = 2 April 2010 , title = Tennis Girl poster photographer dies , access-date = 20 November 2012 {{cite news , url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28036668 , title = Athena Tennis Girl poster dress up for auction , publisher =

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

, date = 26 June 2014 , access-date = 26 June 2014 {{cite web , url = http://metro.co.uk/2014/06/25/so-you-can-now-buy-that-athena-tennis-poster-dress-4775334/ , title = So you can now buy THAT Athena tennis poster dress , date = 25 June 2014 {{cite web , url = http://www.stourbridgenews.co.uk/news/11300205.Tennis_Girl_dress_to_go_up_for_sale_in_Stourbridge/ , title = Tennis Girl dress to go up for sale in Stourbridge , website = Stourbridge News {{cite web , url = https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/486968/Athena-tennis-girl-dress-sells-for-15-000 , title = Iconic cheeky 'tennis girl' dress sells for £15,000 , first = Jane , last = Mathews , date = 5 July 2014 {{cite web , url = http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/dress-from-cheeky-tennis-girl-poster-to-be-auctioned-634472.html , title = Dress from 'cheeky' Tennis Girl poster to be auctioned , date = 25 June 2014 {{cite news , url = https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-32065460 , title = Museum to display Tennis Girl dress , work = BBC News , date = 26 March 2015 , via = bbc.com {{Cite web , title = Infamous 'Tennis Girl' was my ex-wife - and now I have proof, says man , url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11432136/Infamous-Tennis-Girl-was-my-ex-wife-and-now-I-have-proof-says-man.html , access-date = 2020-09-02 , website = The Daily Telegraph , language = en-GB {{Cite web , title = 'The infamous 'Tennis Girl' was my ex-wife - and now I can prove it' , url = https://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/the-infamous-tennis-girl-was-my-ex-wife-and-now-i-can-prove-it-31019021.html , access-date = 2020-09-02 , website = The Independent , language = en {{Cite web , title = The Tennis Girl , publisher = Iconic Photos , access-date = 20 November 2012 , date = 2 April 2010 , author = aalholmes , url = http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/the-tennis-girl/ {{cite news , title = Truiense gaat toch niet naakt voor 1.000 stemmen , trans-title = Sint-Truiden're not naked for 1,000 votes , newspaper =

De Standaard ''De Standaard'' (meaning ''The Standard'' in English) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and F ...

, language = Dutch , access-date = 20 November 2012 , url = http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20120920_068 , date = 20 September 2012 , author = bbd {{cite news , url = https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/9508635.burnley-actress-alice-barry-swaps-shameless-tennis/ , title = Burnley actress Alice Barry swaps Shameless for tennis , newspaper = Lancashire Telegraph , date = 2 February 2012 , access-date = 29 August 2020 {{cite news , title = Martin Rowson , newspaper = The Guardian , access-date = 28 September 2019 , url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2019/sep/27/martin-rowson-on-boris-johnsons-rhetoric-cartoon 1976 works 1976 in art Nude photography Posters Sportswear Sports photographs Tennis culture Tennis mass media University of Birmingham Women's tennis 1970s photographs Color photographs

Creation

History

Subject doubts

Parody

See also

References