It’s that time of year again: when the tennis season has just barely ended but you’re already looking forward to the next one. And what better way to kick off the anticipation than with a preview of the tennis outfits your favorite adidas players will be wearing at the Australian Open and Roland Garros in 2013!
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First up is Stella McCartney’s vision for Caroline Wozniacki. And I have to admit that I like it … a lot, in fact. Compared to some of the outfits Caroline has had to wear in even the recent past (cough, what was that skirt and shoes?!), this seems like the perfect combination of flirty and sporty. Ok, now I’m turning her outfits into Sugarpova flavors, oops.
Anyways, the top yellow/white combo is for the Australian Open, and the bottom blue dress is for Roland Garros. Imagine the yellow against the blue of the Australian Open courts and the blue against the red clay of Roland Garros. Visually, it sounds quite appealing. I approve Stella!
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Next up, Ana Ivanovic‘s dresses for the Australian Open and Roland Garros. Moving on ….
Ok, I’m just kidding. But really, I’m once again confused about who creates Ana’s dresses each year. The neon yellow dress she wore at the U.S. Open, while looking horrid in initial samples ended up looking great on Ana. At this point, adidas could dress her in a potato sac and her gorgeous tan legs and face could somehow make it work.
But getting back to the styles below, I’m honestly not in any way sold. Sure they’ll look great on her as always, but the strange color-blocking near the hem of the dress I could have done without — just seems like an old 1980’s pixelated computer game. I like the light blue dress, but that was so Ana Australian Open 2008. I’d get on board if adidas would just stop trying so damn hard to be original, and bring it back to basics for her outfits.
(Sorana Cirstea and Daniela Hantuchova will also most likely be wearing these dresses.)
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As for the rest of the adidas ladies, I’m really worried. Stella McCartney is now designing ALL of the adidas Barricade women’s line and it’s a two-piece version of Caroline’s Roland Garros dress — or, at least, that’s what I think it’s supposed to be. I don’t really know.
The frilly hem of the skirts is flattering enough, but I simply don’t get the black skirt with the front white panel (middle bottom). That Stella design already failed miserably during the London Olympics.
My favorite of the styles below may be the white and yellow block, but I can easily see confused players pairing the yellow/white top with the yellow skirt instead of the white one. At least there are only three colors to choose from and it’s luckily no neon yellow top with an aqua blue skirt that Laura Robson had during the U.S. Open. I am quite surprised there are no cap sleeves in this collection either, but perhaps those prints are still to be released.
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On to the fellas.
We’ve all actually seen Andy Murray‘s outfit for the Australian Open already — it’s what he wore during the ATP World Tour Finals earlier this month. I’ve really been enjoying the colors being infused into Andy’s kits this past year, and I don’t mind the yellow and black shoulder bursts on the white outfit. The only thing I’m worried about is that they’ll bring back those nauseating yellow shorts from the World Tour Finals. If they do, I’m really going to struggle watching his matches …
Oh, and there’s one more thing I’m really disappointed about in this outfit. Apparently adidas is changing his shorts from an 8″ inseam to a 9.5″ inseam. That’s ONE-AND-A-HALF INCHES less of Murray’s legs I get to see! That probably means we’ll see a lot less of his trademark mid-match move of “pulling at his shorts” that he likes to do. Damn.
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Last up is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga‘s collared polo (top row) and Fernando Verdasco‘s polo (bottom row). Most of the other adidas-sponsored players will probably also be wearing Fernando’s kit. And as with the ladies’ outfits above, the yellow/grey combos will be for the Australian Open and the blue for Roland Garros.
Somehow, the “pixelated” color blocking from Ana’s dress doesn’t look as terrible when put fully horizontal and on a t-shirt. I must also commend the design team for pulling the patterns back a notch and leaving me headache-free after viewing. I particularly like Fernando’s blue top — there’s something very retro and fitting about it.
Looking forward to seeing all the outfits in action on court come January!