What the heck is going on at Wimbledon? We’re only halfway through the third round, and we’ve already lost eight of the top ten women. They’re dropping like flies over there, so maybe we better get to the best-dressed award before any more fall by the wayside.
Actually, we’ll just be voting for second-best dressed. Best-dressed goes to the irrepressible Bethanie Mattek-Sands because A) she’s making her brave return to the site of last year’s gruesome injury, and B) she finds a way to stay true to her wacky self despite the restrictive dress code. After surgery and a long year of rehab, Bethanie’s back to compete for the only significant doubles title missing from her impressive resume. A winner in every sense of the word.
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My comparatively bland nominees for second-best dressed: Madison Keys, Kiki Mladenovic, and Vitalia Diatchenko. (The first two have already been eliminated from the tournament, but at least they looked good on their way out.)
Nominee #1: Madison Keys
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This Nike ensemble graced quite a few players, including Simona Halep, but I liked it best on Madison. A surprising combination of semi-sporty top with a wispy, flowing skort, this outfit could have gone so wrong. Somehow it works. It looks exceptionally lovely when Keys is racing across the court, gossamer skirt floating behind her…
(It looks less lovely–and must be downright annoying–on windy days like the opening day of the tournament. Nike is developing a bit of a track record for semi-impractical tennis wear. Anyone remember the billowing baby-doll dress debacle from 2016?)
Nominee #2: Kiki Mladenovic
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Kiki’s dress by Adidas hits the sweet spot between sporty and elegant. I love the simple, clean lines and the wavy eyelet effect along the bottom. Mladenovic would look good wearing a potato sack, but there’s no denying the classic beauty of this dress.
Nominee #3: Vitalia Diatchenko
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I don’t know Diatchenko’s game at all–I didn’t see her first-round upset of Maria Sharapova–but I like the body-conscious, athletic fit of this outfit. Like a lot of Nike pieces lately, this top and skort seem prone to wrinkling but look fabulous if she’s not, you know, moving around. (I like Nike, but maybe they need some actual athletes on their design teams.)
For the purpose of this face-off, let’s assume these players all just got dressed, haven’t had time to get wrinkled, and are playing on a wind-free day.
Go, Bethanie!!!
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