Tennis fashion is always at its best during Grand Slams and the US Open has established itself as the most fashionable major, since the energy of New York City somehow pushes designers to create edgy, innovative and colorful apparel. Having thoroughly reviewed WTA dresses at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon earlier in the season, now it’s time to add the US Open to my Grand Slam Fashion Overviews feature.
World number two Angelique Kerber is trying to grab the number one ranking for the first time in her career, wearing the Adidas Fall Pro Tank in flash red and the Adidas Fall Pro Skirt, whose eye-catching triangular print that dominates the collection is inspired by the New York City skyscrapers.
Romania’s Simona Halep paired her tech steel Adidas Fall Pro Tank with the unique Adidas Fall Pro Short, whose built-in compression shorts have the bold geometric print visible underneath a woven mesh layer.
The shorts are the edgiest item in the collection, while each piece is stunning in its own way. I especially like how the contrast racerback is executed in the tank and how all the tops from the Climacool-equipped collection perfectly match all the bottoms.
For players who don’t like to mix and match, Adidas created a beautiful Fall Pro Dress, promoted at the US Open by Kristina Mladenovic and Ana Ivanovic.
Stella McCartney has always loved color-blocking. Her US Open designs combine collegiate navy, flash red, white and marble print, distributed in Caroline Wozniacki‘s Adidas Stella Barricade New York Dress in such a way to create a figure-slimming, hourglass effect.
Garbine Muguruza sported the Adidas Stella Barricade New York Tank and Adidas Stella Barricade New York Skirt, an ensemble packed with performance features, like technologically-advanced Climalite fabric that wicks away sweat from your skin.
World number one Serena Williams is breaking records more often than some Top 100 WTA players are winning matches, but that doesn’t mean the American is neglecting fashion! Never afraid to stand out, Williams accessorized her NikeCourt Power Dress with pink Nike sleeves, creating yet another historic US Open outfit. Of course, the legend also had a black, night version of the dress, which Nike used in the pre-tournament promo.
New York City asks for vibrant colors and Nike knows that fluorescent tones are made for the US Open, clothing a large number of players in volt combined with black or white. Lucie Safarova, Madison Keys and Roberta Vinci are seen here in the white version of the Nike Fall Flex Victory Premier Skirt, teamed up with the lightweight, yellow Nike Fall Dry Premier Tank.
The black variant of the ensemble, seen here on Elina Svitolina and Petra Kvitova, reflects the NYC energy even more. The speed-oriented Zoom Vapor 9.5 Tour Shoes nicely complete the black look.
I also have to include Canada’s world No.226 Francoise Abanda, who lost in women’s qualifying, and Russia’s Anastasia Potapova, top seed in junior girls’ singles draw, since both look awesome in the Nike Fall Maria Premier Tank and Nike Fall Maria FLX Premier Short.
Genie Bouchard rocked the gradient stripes of the Nike Fall Dry Slam Premier Dress, whose perforated fabric keeps players comfortable.
Venus Williams once again pushed the boundaries of spectacular prints with her EleVen Prism Chela Dress, whose colors depict the transition from summer to fall, as the American explained when talking about the Prism collection.
Lotto pretty much recycled the design we’ve been seeing throughout 2016, just slightly changing the color, going for rose neon in Agnieszka Radwanska‘s Fall Nixia Dress for the US Open. As you know, the dress features a dramatic mesh panel at the back.
Carla Suarez Navarro showcased the more innovative Lotto Fall Twice Reversible Tank + Lotto Fall Twice Reversible Skirt, and it perplexes me why Aga didn’t choose this set, to bring some variety.
Mentioning variety, we can forget about it when it comes to Lacoste. They did create a new design for Dominika Cibulkova and Elena Vesnina, the Lacoste Fall Racer Dress, but does it really look new? The item is an amazing classic, with super cute back cutout and nice peeks of color mango tree, but it resembles too much the Lacoste dresses we’ve been seeing for months, that feel like forever.
Fila stepped things up with a refreshing take on tried-and-true classics. Jelena Jankovic, Karolina Pliskova and Yaroslava Shvedova rocked the Heritage collection, which replaces Fila’s traditional navy with black, and pairs it with classic red and white, with an addition of blurred stripes for a contemporary feel. Don’t you love the red hair ties?
Fresh off her Olympic gold medal achievement, Puerto Rican Monica Puig also gave us a touch of retro with her Wimbledon-worthy white Ellesse dress paired with a navy hair tie.
Heather Watson chose the New Balance Fall Yarra Tank, which stands out with its purple-dominated print and chic slit openings along armholes, and the New Balance Fall 40 Degree Skirt, featuring mesh trip at hem. Nicole Gibbs wore my preferred outfit from the collection, the New Balance Fall Victoria Dress in spectral purple, which captivates with its stylishly shaped top section, keyhole opening at upper back and side slit at left hem.
Barbora Strycova sported the Sergio Tacchini Fall Trace Dress, which includes coral stripes at racerback.
Belinda Bencic‘s Yonex US Open Tank seems to be inspired by Switzerland’s mountains. The Yonex US Open Skirt has flirty pleated hem and is made of pin-dot mesh material, just like the top.
Asics-sponsored players Julia Goerges and Johanna Konta showcased a simple purple and white combination, although Goerges’ Asics Fall Athlete Tank includes uniquely designed criss-cross straps that are not visible in this pic.
Germany’s Laura Siegemund properly promoted Tonic by wearing a variety of attention-grabbing outfits.
One of her looks even included Bethanie Mattek Sandseque knee-high socks.
Alize Lim is not close even to the Top 100 in the WTA rankings, but when it comes to fashion, the Paris resident is definitely a member of the WTA Top 10. Her clothing sponsor Le Coq Sportif always creates stunning clothes that have a life of their own, never resembling anything we’ve seen in women’s tennis apparel in recent years. Lim’s outfits manage to be absolutely unique, without even touching tackiness or going over the board.
After this lengthy overview, it’s time to make a verdict. My favorite US Open collection is, not surprisingly, Adidas worn by Halep, Kerber, Ivanovic, Mladenovic, etc. However, we can safely say that this US Open certainly hasn’t had a shortage of amazing designs. What are your favorites? Do tell me in the comments!
Francoise Abanda looks amazing. I love both Nike and Adidas. Not too sure about Serena’s outfit yet.
My favourites are Caro Wozniacki’s dress (although the other version is not so great), Angie Kerber’s version of the Adidas outfit, Kristina Pliskova and Alize Lim (if only she would get higher in the rankings!). Venus’s dress is ok, but for once I think she has gone too far with the print – the dress looks more suitable for a day at the races. Serena’s is certainly interesting, but I think a bit gimmicky with the coloured sleeves – it looks more like a cocktail dress. I think the NIke fluorescent yellow is horrible – flatters no-one and too many people wearing the same. Laura Siegemund – I really like the white dress, but the others are horrible – unflattering and she needs a decent bra. Belinda’s outfit pretty horrible too.
Francoise Abanda is the only one who looks amazing in Nike this season, all the fluorescent yellow is horrible and trashy. Angie Kerber looks very good in the separates and the outfit suits her but I really do like the dress Mladenovic is wearing (a good thing that she made it to the finals in WD!). Caroline Wozniacki’s dress is also one of my favourites, and Alize Lim looks so french that you just have to love the outfit. I agree about Venus’s dress as well as Laura Siegemund’s – as much as I support “different”, this is very unflattering. Karolina Pliskova’s dress is a little bit boring but classy.
I liked the fact that Serena had a day and a night version of the dress. @Claire, the boring dress that Ka. Pliskova wears matches her robotic personality.
My favorite is definiely Wozniacki’s dress, love the color blocking, but black barricade boost shoes are terribl with the dress.
For once, my least favorite is Serena’s, her outfit looks like a cheap cheerleader dress…
Fila was originally an Italian company, but now has headquarters in South Korea. Korean pro golfer So Yeon Ryu has recently sported Fila golf wear which I believe is quite stylish with the knee high socks ala Bethanie Mattek Sands.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKbYG20Adrh/
Also their is a line of design wear in South Korea, Beanpole, which is sort of their version of Polo or Ralph Lauren. They also have a golf line, that the young Korean golfer Sung Hyun Park wears.
I really adored Ana’s dress. Hate Serena’s