Embellishments
 
September 3, 2011 -- Professional tennis players are fit physical specimens. You don't have to say it ... just look. Rafael Nadal's arms are guns, they say. Knotted masses of refined muscle tissue designed to do damage on court. But nonetheless, players embellish.
 
First ... the clothes, which do not make the man or woman but certainly help distinguish them from opponents and for the cameras. Who didn't raise their eyebrows when Serena Williams walked on court wearing her cat suit at the 2002 U. S. Open? We heard about it and saw it republished for years. Maybe it'll be revised in 2012 as a 10-year anniversary remembrance? That getup was made by Puma, though, which doesn't come near Serena nowadays. She's all Nike.
 
The dresses from Nike are, well, nice. She, like Federer, Nadal, and Sharapova, have their signature fashions. Serena doesn't have her own logo like the men, but her clothing's cut for a fuller figured woman, which 80% of the female tennis playing population appreciate. We can't all wear skin-tight shirts and skirts. We are not fit physical specimens.
 
Serena Williams doesn't need much in the way of details when she enters a stadium, or when she does just about anything on the planet. She is a brand, like her newly wed buddy Kim Kardashian who likes bling in equal measure as Serena, given the 20-carat diamond ring she landed from her sweet hubby Kim Humphries.
 
We could attribute Serena to blingafying tennis. Maria Sharapova wears dangling earrings, but they are light in texture and subdued in nature. Noticeable but not overwhelming. Serena, way back in 2005 during her first night match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, donned a pair of $40,000 platinum chandelier earrings. The next night, she added a matching diamond necklace. Nothing was added on the third night, for example, a wrist bracelet or ankle bracelet. Sharapova has never gone way out on a jewelry limb like that.
 
In some cases, the jewels belong to Serena and in others they are hers to showcase.
 
"My stylist pulled it for me," Serena said, according to ESPN.com, about the earrings. "I fell in love with it. It has lots of diamonds."
 
This year, she's wearing more diamonds -- drop diamond cluster earrings accented by a platinum chain and tiny diamonds.
 
Here's the question for Serena. How does she play with that stuff banging around her head? Doesn't it bother her? However, after years of diamonds and hoops and necklaces that bounce on her chest like kids on a trampoline, we should know better than to ask. The girl likes her bling!
 
Caroline Wozniacki has a more subdued demeanor, when compared to Serena's flash. Wozniacki, though, loves fashion. Her nails at this Open are perfectly painted hot pink. They present well against the Stella McCartney Dress from adidas, which its website explains as a classically designed pleated dress in white chalk that is "scuba inspired showing strength and fluidity with every movement Caroline makes on court."
 
What scuba has to do with tennis is hard to nail down, but the dress did move nicely with Caroline as she swam around Arthur Ashe Stadium this morning, drowning American Vania King in straight sets, 62 64.
 
One somewhat bizarre accoutrement on the dress -- a zipper. It has a fancy zipper pull, too. Wet suits, though, are skin tight that one struggles to pull on. If Caroline's dress is 'scuba inspired,' why the zipper? Oh well, she looks great in it and she's on to the round of sixteen and hopefully, I'm sure for her, her first major title.
 
In contrast to the jewels from Serena and the whimsical dress on Caroline, Francesca Schiavone and Chanelle Scheepers weren't adorned at all during their match. The only embellishment Scheepers had was a new Babolat Pure Drive GT racquet, instead of her former Prince racquet. But simplicity is the sin quo nom for the South African. As the commentator said about her tennis, "she makes the shots she's supposed to make, nothing's wasted."
 
Schiavone's details come in her game -- variety, variety, variety. She had a tussle with the up-and-comer Scheepers, going three sets to pull out the victory: 57 76(5) 63.
 
Men spice it up, too. Janko Tipsarevic is frequently photographed, his image reflecting an enigma, outside the prerequisite mug shots. On court, he wears sunglasses. Good idea? Yes. But since no one else wears them, for the large part, his stand out. He is also into body art and piercing. One tattoo is a quote from Fyodor Dostoevsky's 'The Idiot.' It's written in Japanese characters, "Beauty will save the world." On his other arm, more Japanese tats. These represent the first and second letters of the names of his father, mother, brother, and himself. Apparently he also has a tattoo on his back, which is a passage from the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. But, that's covered up and can't count as a tennis accent.
 
Tipsarevic pushed through his match today against Tomas Berdych, when the ninth seed retired down 0-5 in the second set. "I [first] felt it in the end of the second set with Roger in Cincinnati," Berdych said in his press conference. "Then when I start with Novak [in the semifinal there] it was pretty much same as today." Berdych retired against Djokovic, too.
 
There's nothing retiring about Novak Djokovic. He's number one in the world. Shares the spotlight with Maria Sharapova in a recent ad that pairs the couple on court for HEAD racquets. And he owns a white poodle named Pierre. They've been seen at cafes in Monaco, his home away from home -- Serbia.
 
Novak doesn't have any tats, as far as can be seen without a strip search, nor does he have any piercings. His clothing manufacturer is Sergio Tacchini, an Italian concern that goes for fabrics that shine and designs that portray bravado. Seems like a perfect match, so to speak.
 
Djokovic wears white during day matches and black at night. Each outfit includes boldly colored swatches and swirls on the shirts and shorts. But, like Nadal and Federer, his tennis is really all he needs to turn the cameras lenses.
 
Roger Federer has to be the king of fashion for men, in the classical end of clothing and tennis attire. Remember the white three-piece suit at Wimbledon?
 
Roger has a five-year $110 million contract with Nike. What he wears and totes to court rings up cash registers world wide. The headband, though, is his quintessential piece, which he throws into the crowd at the end of each match.
 
Roger Federer enjoys dressing well, on court and off. This year at the Open he's wearing 'anthracite' shorts with an 'action red' side seam accent, according to Nike's online catalog. Federer seems to like dark colors at the Open. In 2009 he wore black on black, the shorts embellished with a satin side seam that resembled that on a men's tuxedo. The dark look brought him luck today on Ashe, as he defeated Marin Cilic 63 46 64 62.
 
Federer debuted new plastic bag covers for his freshly strung Wilson BLX sticks, today, too. Big as day, there it was -- the RF logo. No mistaking those racquets for anyone else's.
 
The only man that doesn't need any bling or embellishment on tour, Ivo Karlovic, was out on the new show Court 17 this afternoon. The Croatian stands six-foot-ten and seems to serve as if in a tree. He is the person no one wants to see in their section of the draw, either. He specializes in aces, net approaches, and tiebreaks. He completely undermines opponent's love of rhythm.
 
Karlovic is the antithesis of showy. His racquet is even spray painted black. That usually signifies he's trying out a manufacturers undisclosed new racquet, but appropriately affirms his character -- contained.
 
Alexandr Dolgopolov, on the other side of the net, speaks showy. The Ukraine native wore red adidas shoes and a white t-shirt by adidas with bold red block designs. He's into the bling, too, considering the gold neck chain and gold wrist bracelet.
 
The 22-year-old's serve is unconventional as are his ground strokes; and, he runs like the wind. His flash speed got him past his big opponent 67(5) 62 64 64. Next up for him is either Nikolay Davydenko or Novak Djokovic.
 
Whether it's earrings, body art, or a designer's dress, there's no embellishment that substitutes for talent. Serena's 13 major titles shine all alone. Federer could bring his racquets in a brown paper bag. It wouldn't alter his running cross-court forehand or take away from the impressive work he exerted to win 16 slams.
 
And, Novak Djokovic, with nine titles this year and a first-rate record of 59 and 2, doesn't need shiny clothes to gain fame and fortune. Nonetheless, it always adds a little to the conversation.
 

 

 
[1] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) {white dress} d Vania King (USA) 62 64
 

 
 
Juan Monaco (ARG) {red and white shirt} d Tommy Haas (GER) 67(3) 63 62 63