Fiend at Court Unplugged
The dawn of each Grand Slam tournament sparks a ritual in the Fiend at Court household. I say something along the lines of “It’s official. Nike has completely run out of attractive color combinations.” To which the Fiend at Court spousal unit replies “Please don’t buy me any of that.” Fun fact: Outside of league and tournament swag, almost the entirety of the Fiend at Court household’s tennis wardrobe has been gleaned from the clearance rack of one of the major online tennis retailers. We are experts in what is likely to eventually be offered at deep discount.
At the 2018 Australian Open, Nike inexplicably decided that the men should be adorned in color that can best be described as pink salmon. As we continue to explore the fashion opinions of Baseline tennis, it is another good case study. The two columns on fashion for that tournament were “Fashion Hits” and “Fashion Misses.” Those two columns were littered with players wearing Nike kits in that pink salmon color.
Lots of pink at this year's #AusOpen! #Nike pic.twitter.com/0lBqEYFt4Z
— Tennis Memes (@ATPWTAMemes) January 15, 2018
When worn by Rafael Nadal and Grigor Dmitrov, the prominently pink combinations were labeled a hit. The Baseline reporter opined that Nick Kyrgios rocked the look. Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro opted to only use the color as an accent otherwise wearing mostly muted neutral colors. All of those players were included as Baseline “Fashion Hits.”
Sliding over to the “Fashion Misses” list, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, and Kyle Edmund were all panned for their outfits. Their apparel was identical to what Krygios rocked. The Baseline tennis reporter also didn’t like the color on Genie Bouchard, who was among the handful of women who wore that color. Most of the other women were in a paler shade of pink that year.
I believe I have deciphered the formula the Baseline fashion series of columns. First, major apparel manufacturers will always be featured on the “Hits” list. With so many players sponsored by the big sportswear companies, that is essentially unavoidable. When a major manufacturer puts kits out there that don’t look look great on their players, it may be listed as a “Miss.” However, when a player’s fashion is panned it is inevitably balanced out by effusively positive coverage of that manufacturer’s clothes on another player in the “Hits” list. Baseline is never going to put the entire Nike line in the “Misses” column.
Smaller manufacturers and players without clothing contracts and sponsorship don’t get the same leeway. While I am sure it is possible for a player without a a big manufacturer behind their look to be featured in the “Hits” list, they can usually be found in that tournament’s “Misses” list. There have been some examples of that even when the player’s outfit looks pretty darn good.
Heading into the 2018 Australian Open, Simone Halep was #1 on the WTA rankings list. She was also without a clothing contract. That unique series of circumstances is a terrific story that will be the topic when the Fiend at Court Unplugged series continues next Friday. In fact, the reason I am writing about the Nike pink salmon kits today is not because they were garishly bad. Rather, it necessary to set the stage for a full discussion of Halep’s outfit for that same tournament.
Serena Williams was not in the 2018 Australian Open draw. Though she had returned to competitive tennis following the birth to her daughter, she decided that she was not quite ready. The world will never know if we narrowly dodged a bright pink salmon bodysuit.
- 2018 Australian Open Fashion Hits, Jonathan Scott, Baseline Tennis, January 22, 2018.
- 2018 Australian Open Fashion Misses, Jonathan Scott, Baseline Tennis, January 25, 2018.
