AO 2021 Fashion Faults: Muguruza's Adidas Y-Dress

Lacoste has had a great thing going over a few recent majors with its white polos favoring yellow-accent panels. The problem is, as with these AO looks for Daniil Medvedev, Filip Krajinovic, and others, they just keep trotting that out as if no one's seen it before (or needs yet another one). They seem to move units, but they don't move this fashionisto.

Melbourne has harbored some exceptional style statements at the 2021 season's Grand Slam premiere. The following looks are not among them. Ergo, we move below among the lesser end of the fashion continuum from this Australian Open. (You can find the fashion aces here.

Tennis lovers of a certain vintage will recall Tommy Haas being told at the 2002 US Open that he had to change out of his tank-top. And yes, that was a real-time call by a major event official. (It was the same year Serena Williams debuted her ballyhooed Puma catsuit, which was and is fantastic.) With Haas' pseudo-plight nearly 20 years in the rear-view, let's get this one out straightaway: Alexander Zverev's sleeveless Adidas shirt in Melbourne was a flat no-go, and his team should've told him so. Those who forego upper-arm fabric best have the mass to carry it off (see: Nadal, Rafael; and at this AO, Michael Mmoh). Zverev's upper appendages are comparatively gangly. The look didn't serve him. His fashion game on court could be so good, too, considering his great features. This guy could model outside tennis. So let him do so in a far better kit inside the sport. (All photos Getty).

Dear Mizuno, what outdated mess of a print are we putting on shirts for the likes of Lorenzo Sonego and others? (Don't answer that. Please just modernize a bit.) It didn't come off looking like racquet strings so much as skid marks.

Nike's style plan with Naomi Osaka was good in theory and not-grand in execution. The camo-centric top (and tights) didn't photograph well, and the skirt could've had a better cut; that, or it just didn't do enough to break up the sort-of-dour colors adorning such a radiant person. It would be an also-ran meh and not an outright fashion fault if Osaka hadn't been oh-so-good in the style department in recent majors.

Vanquished by Osaka on court, the style situation for Garbine Muguruza was much the same. Her Adidas kit photographed far worse than Osaka's, and it seemed to lack inspiration. Dubbed the Y-Dress, it just leaves one saying, Why? Plus, we saw her in predominantly darker hue at the last major, the 2020 Roland Garros in which that all-black look gave her a crisp on-court assassin vibe. This one can't be saved by a lower-back cutout and perforated skirt, the latter something Adidas has offered for many a major. Time for a new angle, one deserving of La Muguruthless. For such a style stalwart as her, one given to curated Instagram images in designer wear, this kit was inexplicable.

Greatly appreciating that the looks comes from plastic pulled from the oceans, some recycled-material kits just don't need to be seen. The most recent singles major winner on the men's side, Dominic Thiem, and seven-time Slam winner Kristina Mladenovic were formerly a couple, and at this major event, they're paired up again, this time in the Adidas Parley collection. It's black-and-white kits should work, but the design emblazoned on the front of both the men's and women's kits comes off uninspired. Sure, it's a detailed map of the Great Barrier Reef—timely, topical. Also sure: It's forgettable, even as environmental conversations about waste, climate change, and more remain integral.

Much ado was made of Felix Auger-Aliassime matching up with Adidas again over the offseason, and yet the initial output leaves this style scribe, and next to everyone, wanting more. As with Zverev, FAA has such a fresh way about him, a distinct look and presence, that he could and should be given much better major-match garb. See you in Paris, smashing young man.

Saying it again: R.I.P., Feliciano Lopez's Ellesse-endorsement days. Meanwhile, welcome to the melee. His latest, a black-and-white Hydrogen kit, looks like it's hemorrhaging on his frame. It should be recycled and turned into frat-boy swim shorts. This gent's classic serve-and-volley playing style calls for a far different, less jarring wardrobe. Come back to us, Deliciano's far-less-erratic style game. He deserves you. We all do.

Lacoste has had a great thing going over a few recent majors with its white polos favoring yellow-accent panels. The problem is, as with these AO looks for Daniil Medvedev, Filip Krajinovic, and others, they just keep trotting that out as if no one's seen it before (or needs yet another one). They seem to move units, but they don't move this fashionisto.

On the women's side, Anett Kontaveit suffered the same style fate as her aforementioned peers who put out for Lacoste. The Estonian has had some scintillating tennis, and tennis style, moments at Slams. Time to give her some classy new colorways that still befit the brand.

There you have it, fellow fashion mavens. At the end of the day, we're all just glad to see major tennis again. Here's to the year ahead, to public-health safety, and to scroll-stopping sartorial creations playing out on courts the world over.

On the women's side, Anett Kontaveit suffered the same style fate as her aforementioned peers who put out for Lacoste. The Estonian has had some scintillating tennis, and tennis style, moments at Slams. Time to give her some classy new colorways that still befit the brand.

There you have it, fellow fashion mavens. At the end of the day, we're all just glad to see major tennis again. Here's to the year ahead, to public-health safety, and to scroll-stopping sartorial creations playing out on courts the world over.