Eugenie Bouchard
So, here's the dress. Or The Dress. It's a swingy, pleated shapeless babydoll thing, the likes of which Wino Forever would have worn in "Reality Bites" if it were five inches longer and paired with Mary Janes. And while Genie here actually went on the record with the NYT to say she didn't mind the free and floaty aspects of it...
Lucie Safarova
... this shot is a good example of why that's also impractical. The thing is, I understand the desire to come up with eye-catching, fashionable tennis apparel. Athletes are allowed to want to wear something cute, as well, and sometimes that elevates your mood which might elevate your game. You don't have to care about sports OR fashion; you can indulge both sides. But where it becomes a problem is when the apparel designers forget that they're crafting PERFORMANCE WEAR. When the fashion actually inhibits what these women are there to do, it starts to look like Nike has forgotten that female tennis players aren't just good bodies in short skirts; they're also world-class athletes, and should be garbed as such. You can make it cute, you can make it feminine, but you first and foremost need to make sure it puts their craft before both of those things.
Lucie Safarova
This is from Day 4. I can't tell if that's the same dress or if she switched, but... it really seems very crotch-focused when you see her going full-out like this. Which is unfortunate. (But look at her arms. HER ARMS. That is power.)
Donna Vekic
I mean, this looks like a nightgown. I would legit sleep in that.
Maria Sakkara
This shot shows how filmy it was, too.
Laura Robson
Laura Robson appears to have worn THIS version from the get-go, but Nike made it available to the other women after the outcry over the first dress. It's a skirt and top.
Serena Williams
Serena, of course, never got one at all because she has her own exclusive Nike gear. And hers was actually good. Sporty on the top, where it needs to be the most, and then some asymmetrical pleating on the bottom.
Serena Williams
It looked great in motion, and it made me want one, and yet it also never once took away from her athleticism by forcing her to operate inside a tornado of fabric. BONUS.
Venus Williams
Venus went with something hugely simple. I love Venus, and I really hope she's able to win one more major before she retires.
Venus Williams
Of course, in this first week of rain delays, Venus and others wore THIS almost more often than anything else.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Bethanie always marches to the beat of her own drummer on the court, so it's no surprise to see that her skirt looks like she shredded it like a nervous co-ed peeling a peer label.
Caroline Wozniacki
I like Woz's little perforated skirt.
Gabrine Muguruza
A better view of what appears to be the same skirt, despite the logo being in a different place.
Roger Federer
Hey, how did this get in here?
Simona Halep
This straight thing with the small ruffle reminds me of swimsuit skirts.
Carla Suarez-Navarro
I like that shirt, also. It looks airy.
Camila Giorgi
This has a nightie quality to it -- or maybe it's that the skirt seems more like a figure skater's costume?
Daria Gavrilova
I like the skirt idea here in theory, but it does seem like the top is a little messy with it. I feel like I'd be tugging at that all the time.
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Is that... a basketball player in the logo here? Is the company a bit confused about what tennis is? (Also something about the texture of this skirt just FEELS like a department store lingerie department.)
Shelby Rogers
I just used this picture because it captures her physicality in an interesting way. It makes tennis look balletic.
Grigor Dimitrov
Well. Hello there.
Janko Tipsarevic
You don't often see tennis players in sunglasses, if ever. To the point where I might have assumed they were verboten. I can't tell if they really don't suit him, or if I'm thrown off by the Breathe Right strip.
Marcus Willis
Let's talk about this charmer. Marcus -- a Brit -- is 772nd in the world, nearly retired, and played through pre-qualifying AND qualifying rounds just to get into Wimbledon. He managed to win his first-round match and that got him onto Centre Court against Federer, which... he lost. Handily. But that had to be intense. Props to him for making the run, doubly so because him playing on national TV meant that ESPN dug up every clip it could find of him looking like a slob on the courts during his mediocre career -- including the time he drank RC Cola during a match and ate a Snickers.
Pippa Middleton
Pips looks nice. I feel like we are looking at what Kate's hair WOULD look like, were she not living royal. Not that Pippa's hair looks bad. She has perfect nice hair. It's just not laced with the kind of special sauce Kate is probably getting.
Kim Murray
Speaking of fabulous hair. Kim has always had good tresses, but she had a baby in February so there might be some residual hormones kicking in here. Poppy-themed dresses are also apparently hot for Wimbledon this fall.
James Norton
James Norton, in a plaid suit and round specs, is clearly thinking deeply about whether Kate Middleton has hair extensions. He just cannot decide. So he's going to do some calculus in his head real quick to stay limber and then he might teach a quick lit class on the Romantics while missing a lost love. All the usual things.