Style Seeds: Daring Designs Down Under (Part II)
The first Monday of the Australian Open produced some sensational upsets in the women’s draw. Nothing could compare however, to the defeat of Roger Federer at the hands of Andreas Seppi in the third round. The shock exit was Federer’s earliest exit down under since 2004.
Tennis aside, the men have been just as sartorially inclined as the women with their on-court fashions. From bold brights to sharp graphics, the kits of the ATP balanced the daring with the functional. Part II of our Style Seeds: Down Under will sort the style Gods from the mere pretenders. Who came out on top? Find out below and cast your vote.
Best Dressed
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For all the complaining I’ve done in regards to Nike’s neons in Part I of this special Style Seeds: Down Under compendium, I have to give props to the sultry Spaniard, Rafael Nadal for pulling off hotter-than-hot pink.
Sure, Nadal is no stranger to the shade; in fact, pink is one of his favorite colors. For the Australian Open, Nike offered up Rafael’s signature Spring Premier RF V-Neck Crews in a colorway of pink pow and volt – which will invert come the spring American hard court swing.
Paired with the Spring Rafa Gladiator Premier 7″ Short outfitted with sparkly – yes, sparkly – side seaming, it’s a get-up that was made to stand out against the blue courts of Melbourne Park.
Who doesn’t love a bit of pink and shine?
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty ImagesAnother fetching outfit to debut this week was on the raging Scot, Andy Murray. After signing a new four-year deal with Under Armour at the tail end of 2014, Murray’s Oz attire kicked up a notch for the first major of the season. Even with his relatively pale skin (well, for a tennis player anyway), I think he pulls of the hulk-green look with panache. Outfitted in neon green, contrasted with black panels and matching shorts and cap, Murray’s sartorial stakes at Under Armour are on par with the big guns. Let’s see what the new season will bring for the partnership.
But beware to all that come across him; you don’t want to see him when he gets angry.
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty ImagesTenth seeded Grigor Dimitrov went against the neon grain with Nike, debuting the Spring Challenger Printed Crew in stark shades of white and black. The overall look is clean, modern and interesting to the eye thanks to a faded ombre print inspired by street graffiti. Paired with the Spring Court 7″ Shorts in complimentary black and white shades, Dimitrov’s style cut a fine figure on court against the barrage of the eye-watering fluorescent brigade.
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty ImagesAnother Spaniard to make our best dressed list is the in-form Feliciano Lopez. Though it isn’t the most revolutionary of designs, Lopez can certainly pull off blue-on-blue better than most. Ellesse is a rather under-the-radar brand, even with a sporting history that spans back to 1959 via Italy. I like the three-tier color blocking on Lopez’s outfit; it adds dimension to an otherwise simple crew and shorts combination.
Accented with bold design lines, this number looks particularly suited to the Aussie weather when combined with Lopez’s neon-yellow shoes.
Embed from Getty ImagesWorst Dressed
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Nick Kyrgios suffered the same fate as his fellow worst dressed nominee, Victoria Azarenka.
The crime? Eye-warping neons.
Kyrgios is the lone Aussie remaining to carry the home flag this slam, making the quarterfinals for the first time in his career after defeating Roger Federer’s conqueror, Andreas Seppi in an epic five set thriller. Still, that doesn’t excuse…whatever this is.
Nike, what were you thinking?
After his debut in the matching crew and shorts, Kyrgios toned it down his next few matches, instead opting for less pain-inducing black shorts.
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty ImagesAnother WTF moment came via another spirited Aussie with a mouthful name. Thanasi Kokkinakis made all the headlines on his debut at the Australian Open dressed in – you guess it – neon Nike. Kokkinakis has been partnering Kyrgios in the men’s doubles and, as you can imagine, they’re a vision of radioactive matter.
Kokkinakis’ get up combined Nike’s much overused volt shade with a vibrant graphic paint splatter motif complete with raver socks and matching sweatbands. While I appreciated the 90s – being a child of the decade myself – I don’t want to be blinded by a shade so bright that the tennis ball fades into existence.
Though Spaniards may have come out on top in our Best Dressed list, unfortunately for Fernando Verdasco his Adidas spring Adizero line crew pushed him down a few style notches.
The outfit is neither vibrant with the dashiki-like purple flame print nor drab (well, grey on grey is pretty drab actually). I do appreciate the graphic design efforts from the brand, and the get-up is very complimentary to both Ana Ivanovic and Simona Halep’s Adizero outfits.
But the overall styling is messy and would be more suited to the clay swing of the season.
Where would our Worst Dressed list be without a nod to the loveable Tomas Berdych? H&M delivered some truly great looks for the Czech star this past season, yet some truly awful outfits where it counts. Though this look edges just slightly better than 2014’s football kit, the design itself is ultimately poor.
While the baby blue hues may be complimentary to Melbourne Park, it’s the throwback 80s graphic which is throwing my sartorial eye off. I appreciate the ombre effect on the shorts – that’s a design feature bigger brands should take note of. Sure, there are elements in this look I don’t totally hate, but H&M need to up their game in the style stakes if they want to recruit more players to jump on their tennis fashion bandwagon.
Who was your top and bottom ATP Style Seeds? Don’t forget to vote in our polls, and sound off in the comments with designs we missed!
The Tennis Island 
Would you prefer everything to be one color and no design
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