This was Rafa's main outfit during the 2014 Australian Open tournament, and I always liked the color combination, especially with the hints of blue throughout. Rafa's recent runner-up finish at the Australian Open has brought to mind a lot of his heartbreak at the tournament over the years, and 2014 may be the quintessential example of them all - he fought his way to the final despite dealing with a horrific blister on his playing hand, then his back gave out on him in the last match and he lost to Stan Wawrinka. (Credit where credit is due, though: Stan was up a set and a break when the injury happened - I think he was well on his way to victory anyway.) This was an outfit worthy of being coupled with a title; it's too bad Rafa's body disagreed. Still like this look, though.
The 2013 U.S. Open nighttime look is also a big favorite of mine, both because I love the grey look and also because I associate this look with some of the best, and maybe the best, tennis that Rafa has ever played. He was on fire this summer, becoming only the third man in tennis history to complete the Canada/Cincinnati/U.S. Open sweep.
2015 was a rough year, tennis-wise, for Rafa, but if nothing else, it did give me two of my favorite looks of his. This was his main attire for the fall indoor tournaments, and I thought it was cute - a nice shade of blue contrasted with black (but you can contrast pretty much anything with black and make it work, yeah?). He wasn't able to win a title, but he reached a couple of finals and played better during this period than he had at any prior point in 2015, and looked good while doing it.
The other favorite look of mine from this year was the sky blue attire from Roland Garros. I adored this look; I saw a lot of criticism from onlookers who claimed that it made Rafa look like a smurf, but I call BS on that - this is really cool, especially because it contrasts with the clay so well. In fact, I worked as a vet assistant for about a year around this period and I bought some scrubs that matched this color, because I loved the look so much. This was another kit that I thought was worthy of a title, but unfortunately, it coincided with his slumping period - Novak Djokovic took him out pretty routinely in the quarterfinals, just his second ever defeat at the tournament.
I'm picking this picture both because I think the expression on his face is funny (in-action shots can be so unglamorous at times) and because I liked this look, from the 2011 Miami Masters. Green is my favorite color, so I'm admittedly biased in favor of just about anyone's look when they wear green, and fortunately, Rafa has sported it quite a bit over the years - this one was my favorite look. It can't help but make me think of how Miami is another tournament where Rafa appears to be a bit snakebitten, though - at least he's won in Australia before. He's made the final of Miami in 2005, 2008, 2011, and 2014, but has no titles to show for it. He even joked after 2014 that he would need to get ready to make another run in three years - here's hoping that he can finally snap the streak.
Of the "piratas" years, the 2008 Roland Garros tournament was my favorite. What? Because he's wearing green? Of course not. Ha. This is another look that I also associate with great tennis - he swept through the tournament without dropping a set, including a 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 demolition of Roger Federer in the final. These days, I'm apparently reduced to reminiscing about the days when he was beating Roger routinely. :(
The 2008 Beijing Olympics also provided a memorable look, with Rafa's attire matching the colors of the Spanish flag, of course. Yet another look that I associate with a time of supreme tennis from Rafa in addition to liking the look itself; he won the gold medal in Beijing and ascended to the top ranking for the first time the day after doing so.
Lastly, I close with the classic 2008 Wimbledon kit, when he won the tournament for the first time. Wimbledon's all-white dress requirements doesn't allow for a ton of variation or design flair, but people still get creative with their attire as much as they can, and in addition to the famous capri look of his early years, I will always associate this look with the day he finally won tennis' most hallowed tournament. This is also a really cool picture.
