Just as the use of ultra-skinny 'size zero' models have been the
talking point of London Fashion Week, there are also concerns within
women's tennis about body image. Zina Garrison, a former Wimbledon
finalist and a "recovering bulimic", suggested last night that the
obsession with image could lead to players developing eating disorders.

For many years during her playing career, the American
was far from being a health-eating athlete. Binging on junk food and
then making herself throw it all up again became as much a part of her
daily routine as picking up her rackets and hitting balls on the
courts. She had never been comfortable with her looks, and her bulimia
was brought on by her long-held belief that she was too heavy, and then
the distress, when she was 19, of her mother's death.

Although
Garrison went through therapy to treat her bulimia and she made the
1990 Wimbledon final, where she was beaten by Martina Navratilova, she
relapsed after her retirement in 1996 and her self-loathing reached the
point where she attempted suicide in 1999 by over-dosing on drugs. And
so Garrison remains acutely aware of weight issues in tennis. "For a
female athlete to be overweight," Garrison said, "now that's seen as
the worst thing in the world."

During last month's
Australian Open, Garrison became increasingly angry about how Serena
Williams' body became a topic of debate. But, in recent years, Williams
is plainly not the only women's tennis player to have endured a public
inquiry about her looks, as there was also a controversy involving
Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova, who was forced to deny allegations that
she was anorexic.

With many female players promoted
for their physical appearance as well as their racket skills, Garrison
indicated that this could cause problems. "The attention on women's
bodies in tennis definitely increases the chances of a player
developing an eating disorder. There's already the pressure to do well
in the sport, and then there's more pressure to look good on court, and
then there's the pressure to look good for your sponsors, and in other
pictures. That's tough," said Garrison, 43, the United States' Fed Cup
captain.

"In tennis, as in all women's sport, there is a lot of
talk about women's bodies. People are looking at your body the whole
time. A male athlete is allowed to be overweight, that's no big deal.
But for a female athlete to be overweight, now that's seen as the worst
thing in the world.

"I know from my own experiences
how tough it can be when people are discussing your weight. I was never
a small person. There was attention on me about my weight, and I went
through an eating disorder because of that. I suffered from bulimia for
several years during my career. My mother died when I was young. My
bulimia got really bad. I felt very empty."

Just
two months ago, Dr Sheelagh Rodgers, a psychological consultant to the
English Institute of Sport, argued that a growing number of British
teenage athletes were developing eating disorders. She pointed to
research which showed that nearly one-fifth of elite female athletes
have had anorexia or bulimia, with tennis one of the worst affected
sports.

From:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/02/16/sthodg16.xml