The 2019 Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen have been plagued by retirements, as four players have been forced to quit the tournament because of injuries and illness, but even though we’ve had as many as ten women eventually participating in the singles competition, this may be the first time ever that only two tennis clothing brands have been represented at the prestigious season-ending event — Fila and Nike. I went through my WTA Finals fashion archives dating back to 2011 and there was always a larger selection of logos on the courts. I’m not sure what we can conclude from that fact, but I’m just stating it.
Let’s see the fall/winter collections that have ruled the inaugural edition of the WTA Finals in Shenzhen.
World No.1 Ashleigh Barty, Fila’s leading representative, is sporting the latest Heritage collection, known for being grounded in the traditional style, with mandatory modern twists that make the looks contemporary and on-trend. The Australian’s choice are the navy Fila Fall Heritage Racerback Tank, a simple design with subtle chevron stripes at upper back, and a pure white Fila Fall Heritage Solid Skirt, featuring a rubber F-box at left hem as a little detail.
Barty’s feet are equipped with the bold red Fila Axilus 2 Energized tennis shoe.
Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands entered the eight-women field when Naomi Osaka pulled out of the tournament and the world No.10 arrived in style, wearing the Fila Fall Heritage Dress, one of this season’s favorite designs, as I could conclude from social media comments. It’s a basic sleeveless V-neck silhouette, in Fila’s evergreen navy/red/white color palette, embellished with classic Fila pinstripes. So simple, yet so extraordinary.
Sleeveless polos always look classy and Fila’s latest execution of the traditional silhouette is raising the bar. It’s hard to point out what makes this Fall Heritage Sleeveless Polo so beautiful, but there’s something about these contrast stripes and the white collar coordinated with side colorblocks, especially when the model is Karolina Pliskova. The Czech paired the top with its match, the Fall Heritage Stripe Skirt.
Sofia Kenin played a waiting game in Shenzhen as the second alternate and after Kiki Bertens retired citing a viral illness, the 20-year-old American had a chance to play in the Purple Group against Elina Svitolina, who had already secured her place in the semifinals. For the big match in her career, Kenin decided to wear the orange Axilus 2 Energized shoes and Fila Awning Dress, featuring a colorblocked top and a navy skirt accented by fuchsia purple stripes on the sides. The Awning collection was launched at the US Open.
Let’s move on to Nike’s winter collection, combining quite a strange combination of colors — burgundy, royal blue, and baby pink.
Naomi Osaka‘s gear included the white Nike Winter Court Tank and Nike Winter Elevated Flouncy Skirt. It’s a very simple look, a stark contrast to the Japanese’s futuristic US Open attire signed by Sacai.
Petra Kvitova and other Nike stars changed their outfits during the tournament, but in this overview I’ll show you all of them. Here we can see the Czech in the baby pink Nike Winter Court Dress, a textured A-line design fitted through the bodice and flared at the waist.
Bianca Andreescu, whose WTA Finals debut was ended prematurely because of a knee injury, also chose the pink fit-and-flare dress for one of her matches.
Belinda Bencic opted for the Nike Winter Maria Tank with T-back silhouette and contrast ribbed trim at the neckline. The Swiss could choose the Nike Winter Maria Skirt in the same color, but decided to make a contrast with the pink version of the lightweight, flowy skirt.
Burgundy was a dominant Nike color at last year’s WTA Finals in Singapore and it’s also taking up a large portion of the 2019 winter collection. Simona Halep contrasted her bordeaux godet-style Nike Winter Elevated Flouncy Skirt with a white Nike Winter Court Tank whose racerback is a bit wide to provide better coverage without compromising mobility. The Romanian’s shoe model of choice is the Nike Air Zoom Vapor X.
One of defending champion Elina Svitolina‘s outfits is similar to Halep’s, only that the Ukrainian wears the Nike Air Zoom Zero shoe style.
How do you describe the fact that only Fila and Nike designs are present at the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen? Who is your fashion favorite?