Fashion faults from the 2020 US Open

A dearth of fans makes for not-so-distant sounds around Queens wafting into Ashe Stadium, and seeping through televisions the world over. The New York soundtrack has long paired well with flashy attire in what's usually the season-ending major event.

It appears Roland Garros will be the fashion denouement of Grand Slam tennis in 2020, in just three weeks. And so be it. In the meantime, this US Open genuinely seems more erratic from a style standpoint than its kit parade in years past. Find the fashion aces here, and enjoy some temporary schadenfreude in the subjective picks below for the wardrobing also-rans:

In Nike, Denis Shapovalov deserved to own this event, given the 1990s throwbacks the brand had planned. The 21-year-old certainly has the swagger for it. Unfortunately, his shirt's cut was bad, and the wrong kind of baggy. Plus, that predominant tennis-ball color can be irksome.

While Lacoste label mates Roberto Bautista Agut and Daniil Medevedev showed strong polo games, Novak Djokovic put on another pedestrian, dated-looking design. Unlike some of his actions, this look was not memorable in its day- or night-session version.

Didn't we almost have it all, Nike? A collection novel in concept got sloppy fast in Flushing. Sloane Stephens, Victoria Azarenka, Arya Sabalenka, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Madison Keys, Petra Kvitova, and more in an array of endorsers found themselves whelmed by the print.

On the men, it looked like an oil explosion from fixing a car or bike.

On the women, like a '90s Trapper Keeper full of Lisa Frank folders was tossed into a blender and then pieced together in haste.

It was just too much of what was a great thing in theory.

A certain kind of chutzpah is required for a look like this, and some had it more than others.

For those missing that 1990s Andre Agassi realness, James Blake already did this look—and better—at the 2006 US Open. It was a direct "Image is everything" homage to a 1990 AA kit. Take heed, Haus of Swoosh: There was no need.

Aussie brand Letour outfitted Christopher O'Connell in a shirt with a loudness for New York but a pattern for the bargain bin. It looked a bit childish. Even so, the brand's penchant for repurposing to make our world better and cleaner remains more than admirable.

Interestingly, Venus Williams and Serena Williams have not truly worn the same brand at the same time. Even so, flesh-toned looks—Venus in her eponymous EleVen and Serena in Nike, per usual—gave way to a blase beige vibe.

There's nothing wrong with the dresses themselves, and violet accents on Serena's shoes helped. Overall, this night-session garb underwhelmed. That, of itself, was so unlike them.

Memo to Lotto: Adding royal-blue side panels and mint inflections does not save tired black-and-white stripes. The brand handed unforced sartorial errors to Alize Cornet, Elise Mertens, and Ons Jabeur, among others

Bedecked in Head, 2014 US Open winner Marin Cilic should have had better. Full stop.

And with that, we draw the door on another major event in tennis fashion. After a year of pandemic and panic over COVID-19, it turns out that three of four Grand Slam tournaments will be played. From court lines to hemlines, Paris awaits.