2018 Australian Open Fashion Hits

A new tennis season opens up so many sorts of opportunities – to feast on momentum after finishing well, to break a mournful losing streak and also to reset one's wardrobe of on-court kits. Some days of sweltering temperatures in Melbourne call for smart style choices at the Australian Open. Emerging from said wardrobes are sporting sponsors' economical but also fashionable looks. It's that garb we're gabbing about here – the 2018 style winners in Melbourne.

Timea Babos, Irina Begu and more come through Down Under in throwback Fila. It recalls the modern-classic era of Kim Clijsters and Jennifer Capriati, who sported that brand's red, white and blue so well.

Feliciano Lopez again wears his Ellesse for all its worth, which is a lot. While brands such as Lacoste are opting for majority-navy, this brand well understands how to incorporate that hue of blue and yet take it up a notch with a complementary color like the comparatively unexpected orange. Also a surefire winner: his orange-dominant daytime look.

Also bedecked in Ellesse, Monica Puig shows that her gorgeous, deep-orange dress radiates both kinetic and stationary energy. This remains one of the most inspired, perennially sensational player-sponsor combos.

Again leading the Adidas army, as she did at the 2017 US Open, Naomi Osaka picks right up where she left off – smiling, natural, at ease and rocking the fashion game. Not everyone looks fantastic in this particular look with the high-chest cutout details, but this one sure does.

Sidebar: Osaka also wins Best Hair at this Slam, in a tousled tussle against runner-up Elina Svitolina.

Leading the Nike pack, Juan Martin del Potro rises above what could come across as drab, diagonal gray-black colorways. He does so in an apparent Novak Djokovic homage from Uniqlo's 2014 Australian Open collection.

Shades of red see Fabio Fognini winsome in Hydrogen, even if the ruddy camouflage on the top didn't need to bleed down to the shorts.

Rafael Nadal, sleeveless and sleek in Nike, shows that he both wears a good tank and is himself a human tank. Gray and pink pair well as the summer-spring version of autumn's pink-brown combo. In the end, one of the best accessories to any look remains a set of well-toned muscles.

Nike's peach/salmon/what? jersey top leads many to send up the attire, but Grigor Dimitrov perseveres, setting smart black and white stripes against the springtime brightness to balance it out. This kit is solely for a player chock-full of personality; for the Haus of Swoosh, thankfully, the Grigorious One is precisely that pro.

Milos Raonic is on the bound as his play is concerned, but his New Balance style wins out – and it's all about that shirt and socks. Even as the Canadian continues to relocate his game, he has no need to retool his closet.

While most everyone else in the Nike stable owns or gets owned by their bright- or pale-pink attire, Nadal and Roger Federer remain shot callers who have it their way. Fed himself reveals that a singular, simple stripe and matching shoes do more than enough.

She makes a lot of fans with her tenacious, feisty play, and 5'2" Lauren Davis demands attention in her striking Diadora dress.

The see-through short sleeves and midsection of Maria Sharapova's Nike frock gives her a unique look compared to the brand's other endorsers. Is it off-white? Pale pink? The lavender visor doesn't help matters, but even drenched in sweat during a beatdown courtesy Angelique Kerber, Sharapova looks at home here.

As with the style adorning Dimitrov's frame, the likes of Nick Kyrgios can hit out in bright pink–meets-black slashing as few others can, try as they might. You'll find some relative pretenders on the Fashion Faults list, though wearing the exact same kit. It all comes down to confidence. You can wear anything with confidence.

Victor Estrella Burgos, in his eponymous Deportiva (Sport) brand, created in collaboration with Unimag in his native Dominican Republic, won just three games in a lopsided first-rounder against Nadal.

Sunny and stunning in Stella McCartney for Adidas, Garbine Muguruza leaves Melbourne wondering how to repack her weapons, though not her separates, for the next big tournament.

Perhaps Bob and Mike Bryan were born to sport Izod. Regardless, their sponsor begs the same question that Ellesse puts forth at this first major of 2018: Orange you tantalized by this bold hue?

Outside of actual tennis play, Tennys Sandgren wins the nod for the response to backing up his upset of Stan Wawrinka with more convincing victories including over Dominic Thiem in the fourth round.

Off-Court Champ

Muguruza kills the game among all comers at the Aussie players' party.

Fellow No. 1s, current and former, Simona Halep and Federer pair up for a predominantly black fashion-meets-friendship moment. Her fun sweater comes emblazoned with the word "LOVERS." Just don't expect her to get a top soon that speaks to her No. 1 ranking – Halep is "not that type of person."

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