Tennis: 72 year old man claims Athena Tennis Girl snap was't that of Fiona Walker

A man has claimed that the iconic Athena Tennis Girl snap of mystery tennis player wasn't of Fiona Walker, nee Butler, but his ex-wife.

72-year-old Peter Atkinson, who has spent 30 years insisting that the bum showing woman in the legendary snap was of his ex-wife, who posed for the picture 4 years before photographer Martin Elliot took Butler's in 1976, the Daily Star reported.

Atkinson claims that he has 'evidence' in form of a postcard he bought off eBay, which is stamped with the postmark of 1974, proving that the picture existed before 1976. He has also found a calendar from 1974, which reportedly features the picture of his ex-wife in the pose.

He said that his ex-wife, who was a tennis coach and had given the photographer lessons, had posed for Elliot in 1972, which he re-created in 1976 with Butler, who was his 18-year-old girlfriend at the time. The iconic image has been a popular bedroom pin-up since the 1970s and remains one of the best-selling posters of all time.