Adidas Is Good
Adidas knows how to dress women’s’ bodies. Its silhouettes are flattering and always give us something to look at. A tennis dress doesn’t just have to be a racer-back singlet and a skirt. It can have shape and flair. Nike might be the endorsement everyone wants, but Kerber, Osaka, and Ostapenko are lucky to partner with a top tier company that dresses them well.
New Balance Should Stick to Running
I often forget that New Balance makes tennis attire. Like their Dad shoes, the New Balance effort was meh. In theory, I should love the pale mint on Heather Watson and Fiona Ferro, but the fabric is so flimsy, it looks cheap. Pairing it with peach made it extra weak. And the dress they stuck Sorana Cirstea looks like the Matrix is eating her on top. Red pill…blue pill…which one makes it stop?
Why Fila Hate You?
Poor Karolina Pliskova. This Fila design is a mess. It looks like the remnants of my third-grader’s Jackson Pollack art project after she left it out in the rain.
Tennis Fashun
Typically offering the most fashun-y tennis fashion, the Stella McCartney line for Adidas did not disappoint this year. Garbine Muguruza and Caroline Wozniacki wore the black dress with grey panels. Instead of boring, the kit had that little-black-dress vibe, and the zipper at the neckline and the eyelet cutout on the drop skirt offered fun details. But forget the dress. The warm-up and practice outfit was sleek and weird in the best way. The concept is giving me sexy Alcatraz vibes.
Nike Takes It Back to 1987
Teal can be great but sometimes it just reminds you of a 1987 Honda Accord. I’m wondering if Simona Halep wishes she had kept her Adidas clothing contract?
I Hate That I Love It
I love Maria Sharpova’s Nike dress. The thin straps, macramé effect on top, and dark teal color with the black bra peeking out is my aesthetic. Nike consistently puts Maria in much better clothes than the rest of its stars. Maybe they are hoping that good fashion with make Maria a better person.
Be Well, Queen
As I am typing this from the Baltimore airport, I just saw that Serena has withdrawn from the French with a pectoral injury. She’s the GOAT, but she is forced to reside in human body. Dangit.
Plenty has been written about Serena’s catsuit, which mixes superhero fashion (look at the orangey-red utility belt!) and medicine (aka compression). I will say that I’m disappointed in the other WTA players for not coming to Serena’s defense in greater numbers. If Bethanie Mattek-Sands’ outfits (so garish that they wear her, and not vice versa) are legal, then the catsuit should be, too. This controversy spoke to how dumb the idea of “appropriate” tennis attire is. Instead of questioning if Serena’s catsuit was legal, more players should have been saying, “The inconsistent) rules are plain dumb.”
For me, the best part of Serena’s look was her earrings. They look like Jonathan Adler designed her some paper clips and then decided to cover them in diamonds.
My Fave
I am such a sucker for a good pleat. Andrea Petkovic looks feminine, fun, and badass in this navy and coral kit from Adidas. Seeing it was a “take my money!” moment.
