The year 2017 divided fans of women’s tennis in half. One group said that it was great thing that so many people shared the No.1 ranking because it injected an element of unpredictably that we haven’t had in a while. The other group said the game slightly lost some credibility because there were no real stars in Serena’s absence.
Luckily, that’s not what we’re talking about today. Today, we delve into the best outfits of the year, and what a year it was for on-court fashion…
Related: Tennismash’s 2017 WTA awards
Supposedly inspired by the shadows cast on a twilight session tennis court, this look is very busy yet very simple at the same time. The double arm sleeves combined with the compression tights resembles an NBA player and, above all else, are distinctly ‘Serena’.
My friend and colleague Leigh Rogers said it best in the Tennismash WTA Awards wrap:
“A classy, yet fun look.”
This is actually from Adidas’ Melbourne line for the Australian Open, and it draws heavily from the sunny Slam. The sky blue and sunny orange colours are very loud by themselves, but together they blend harmoniously and really pop in natural light (apologies, I could not find a photo that demonstrates this). The outfit loses its identity and panache when Mladenovic sports the oceanic visor instead of the sizzling orange headband.
SmashDebate: Can Genie break the top ten again?
Women’s Tennis Blog said this dress ‘Has it all’ and oy vey is that an understatement. This outfit is quite simply showtime. It is starry like the New York sky and is subtly laced with black insets. The topper? It’s embellished with Swarovski crystals. This elegant outfit was created in tandem with Italian designer Riccardo Tisci and commands a certain glamorous personality that only the Russian diva could provide.
What could possibly beat Masha’s New York number? This – the Pharrell New York skirt from the Adidas Statement collection. Although it’s less a statement and more a tribute; the Chris Evert-inspired skirt might be the greatest piece of sports fashion of all time. Here we have strong accents of yellow, red and royal blue positioned subtly around the collar, visor, socks and shoes so that it asserts itself without being brash, and the crisp blanket of white pops spectacularly under the Flushing Meadows sun. This outfit is, in a word, pleasing. It’s just a shame Garbine couldn’t do it justice by winning the US Open crown.
This outfit is unbelievably ratchet. Why Risa Osaka wanted to look like a curtain, I do not know.
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15 September 2016
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30 December 2019
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