Fashion Aces And Faults On Australian Open Day 1

(January 16, 2012) Victoria! Fernando! Who are you wearing? No, you're not watching an award show. Better, you're watching the Australian Open.

The Golden Globes were last night and while so many were watching to see the winners and who wore what on the red carpet, tennis fans were watching the Happy Slam to see the winners and losers and who wore what on the blue courts in Melbourne. Here's a round-up of our top 5 fashion aces and faults at day 1 of the Australian Open.

5. Ace: Shuai Peng sported a sunny Li-Ning dress in her win over Aravane Rezai. The yellow color was a perfect pop on the blue courts.

4. Fault: I know it’s an easy out to pick on Bethanie Mattek-Sands. This time, I didn’t mind what she wore during her defeat to Agnieszka Radwanska. I expected the knee socks, the eye black-out and the wildly-colored purple hair. But her shirt colors (green and yellow) to honor her Green Bay Packers? This New Yorker is not a fan.

3. Ace: Elena Baltacha's red Yonex dress was simple and fit her well. It looked comfortable and lacked frills, but in a good way. Unfortunately, Baltacha lost her first-round match to Stephanie Foretz Gacon, because I would have loved to have seen more of this dress.
http://www.tennisexpress.com/yonex-Womens-Australian-Open-Tennis-Dress-26539


2. Double Fault: Well it's Summer in Melbourne and Fernando Verdasco decided to come dressed as the sun. And that was me being kind to the Spaniard; the rest of the public wasn't so. Some said he came dressed as the Spanish flag, some called him a fast food waiter and some said he looked like a highlighter. On paper, the Adidas top (whose color is called "Electricity with High Energy") isn't so bad, but put it on the crisp blue courts and it's blinding. Sadly we won't be seeing much more of this shirt as Fernando lost his first-round match to Bernard Tomic in five sets. His tennis flamed out at the end… unlike his shirt.
http://www.tennisexpress.com/adidas-Mens-Adizero-Tennis-Crew-24335

1. Ace: Not many ladies opt for shorts on court, especially at a Grand Slam, but Victoria Azarenka did just that. She paired her white Nike shorts with Nike's "Tie Break Graphic Tank" in mega blue and, wearing it, the 3rd seed scored a mega 6-1, 6-0 win on day 1 over Heather Watson.

Notable sponsor switches: American John Isner was wearing Nike up until the end of last year but now sports Lacoste like countryman Andy Roddick; South African Kevin Anderson used to wear Athletic DNA but was seen wearing Under Armour (but still had on an Athletic DNA hat. Maybe it’s lucky?); Jelena Jankovic was Anta’s girl but steps out on court now in colorful Fila frocks.