Serena Williams‘ 2019 season is far from the most successful ones in her career, but that doesn’t mean that the American lacked achievements, quite the contrary — she played just eight tournaments, left four of them with injuries, and still managed to reach three straight finals, including two at Grand Slams. Not only was this mom’s mediocre year actually super prosperous, the 38-year-old continued to stir the tennis fashion scene with her daring Nike outfits. Let’s see everything that Serena wore on the court during 2019, as part of my annual Fashion Retrospections.
In recent years it’s always been a mystery what Serena would wear at a Grand Slam. Her outfits are being kept a secret until the very last moment and even if we do get some leaks, Serena often makes alterations to the design. Ahead of the 2019 Australian Open, I first thought that she would opt for a pink Nike perforated dress that we saw on Instagram, but when the American introduced it at the Hopman Cup, I knew it was not an option for Melbourne. Then I suspected the green Nike Spring Player Dress was the one and I was very close, but Serena likes to shock and make surprises, so she removed the skirt from the dress, transforming it into a romper.
In Indian Wells and Miami, Serena remained in the Aussie Open design, only that now she kept it a dress and opted for its white version.
In Rome, Serena showed up in a basic dark outfit. As you can notice, Serena always wears fishnet stockings or leggings. It’s an unusual look for the tennis court, but the tennis star wears them for health reasons — to improve circulation and prevent blood clots that she’s prone to.
After her controversial 2018 black catsuit that was subsequently banned by French Tennis Federation, Serena returned to Roland Garros in another extravagant outfit — a black-and-white crop top, asymmetrical skirt and revolutionary cape-jacket, all designed by Off-White’s Virgil Abloh for Nike.
The unique zip-up piece that resembles a cape celebrates Serena’s royal status in the sport of tennis, having the French words for “mother”, “champion”, “queen”, and “goddess” written all over the jacket.
The main thing about Serena’s Wimbledon 2019 dress was the Swarovski-studded Swoosh. The “Broosh”, as it was called, contained 34 Swarovski crystals to celebrate the age at which the 23-time Grand Slam champion won her last Wimbledon title three years earlier. The dress itself was all about knitwear-inspired texture, with an addition of eccentric side cutouts.
The American accessorized with statement gold jewelry, a luxury watch, studded nail art, white hairband, see-through topcoat, SW-logo-customized tennis bag and Nike Flare 2 shoes.
After a runner-up finish at Wimbledon, Serena progressed all the way to the Rogers Cup final in Toronto, wearing a simple dark blue (or is it dark grey?) racerback dress. Unfortunately, that title match lasted only 19 minutes, as Serena retired due to an upper back injury and handed the Premier 5 title to home star Bianca Andreescu.
At the following tournament, the US Open, Serena yet again reached the final and once more her opponent was Bianca Andreescu, only that this time their match was completed, with the 19-year-old Canadian phenomenon winning the champion’s trophy.
During the fortnight at Flushing Meadows, Williams’ look was defined by long sleeves, … and another controversial bodysuit.
The American rocked an all-black dress and an all-purple one, but she also turned heads in a short black bodysuit.
Do you admire Serena for continuing to push the tennis fashion envelope even now that she’s approaching 40s? What is your favorite 2019 outfit of the tennis legend? Tell me in the comments below!
US Open black bodysuit was iconic!!! And her Roland Garros outfit was pretty in my opinion, I like how she takes risks.
Jacob, my favorite is the Roland Garros look. The short US Open bodysuit was a bit too much for me, but at the same time Serena can go away with it.