I attended the US Open Tournament in Flushing, Queens, this past year. I had never been to a tournament of this size and I was just in awe of the internationally ranked athletes playing at the Arthur Ashe Stadium that evening. Not only was I a first time US Open attendee, I didn’t even know who was playing that evening. Everything changed once I saw Rafael “Rafa” Nadal and Teymuraz “Gaba” Gabashvili take the court below.
These men are in superb athletic shape and form. Their threshhold for competition and strategic game playing is nothing less than genius. Even in the 90 degree temperature without a breeze in the evening air, these men beat the heat in their choices of both hair styles and hair accessories.
First, let’s take a look at the players. Rafael Nadal. This Spanish hearthrob and spectacular athlete is currently ranked number one in the world. I could see that his floppy jet-black hair style was kept away from his sweating brow with a fashionable head band in black. This went very nicely with his black shirt, shorts, and socks. This is a far cry from the early days of tennis where white clothing was the requirement. Rafael, or as his fans call him “Rafa”, also had wrist bands on his wrist to further soak up the beads of sweat that would build up between strokes. I was sweating just sitting, I can’t imagine what he must have felt like running around for such a long period of time. The combination of his choice of head band and tennis garments definitely made him look like the coolest player on the court. Did his choice of wardrobe and hair accessories give him an advantage over TeymurazGabashvili across the net?
Teymuraz Gabashvili, also know as “Gaba” by his fans, had a different approach to keeping cool during the stiff competion and humidity that evening. He also wore a short hair cut, but the front of his hair held-up well even with the amount sweat pouring out of his pores. I don’t know what was holding up so well, but he kept his forehead dry between serves with a towel that was conveninetly brought to and retrieved by a very fast ball boy. This is not a job I would consider fun, even if I could get to touch the sweaty towel of a world renowned athelete.
Even though I was not able to stay until the end of the match that evening, it found out later that Rafael Nadal won over Teymuraz Gabashvili. In my personal opinion, Rafael not only won the game with his superhuman athletic abilities, but his hair style was a sure hit at this year’s US Open.
Did you watch the US Open this year? Did you notice a specific hair accessory that you won you over?
