The time difference, and my forgetfulness, foiled me on watching as much of the Australian Open as I wanted to — hence, the delay in discussing the outfits. And this is truly just scratching the surface; if I can’t keep up with it as I go, it’s almost a given I will miss something, so please pipe up in the comments to make sure everyone sees what I didn’t. The good news is that dragging my feet meant that I could include the winner photoshoot for Aryna Sabalenka, a tradition I didn’t know about until this year and which I now want to dive into a bit more deeply to see if they’re all as cheerfully cheesy as these are.
Sabalenka, who beat reigning Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina, became the first person to win under what they’re calling a neutral flag — she is Belarussian and they and the Russians still compete with blank squares next to their names. The men’s final was Djokovic versus Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, and I am not a fan of EITHER of those people, so bleh. I’m just glad Rafa Nadal made Grand Slam history with his 21st and 22nd wins before Novak did it, although I’m steeling myself for Djoker to break Rafa’s record imminently. I think winning those two slams last year took it out of Rafa for good, although I hope I’m wrong, and Novak has a lot left in the tank.
Anyway! Sabalenka won, wearing the pattern of the season, which also popped up memorably on Vika Azarenka and Frances Tiafoe. Maybe Nike got one right!
[Photos: James Gourley, Ella Ling, Xinhua, Asanka Ratnayake/Shutterstock, FAZRY ISMAIL, James Ross, Lukas Coch, Joel Carrett/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock, JAMES ROSS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock, Sydney Low/CSM/Shutterstock, Dita Alangkara, Ng Han Guan/AP/Shutterstock]
