Look of the Week: Coco Gauff’s new Australian Open kit is giving fans 'Serena vibes'

Reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff is ready for impact in Melbourne, after unveiling her new kit for the upcoming Australian Open gave tennis fans plenty to talk about on social media.

New Balance designed a bold outfit to follow up the neon tennis-ball-inspired look Gauff wore in New York on the way to the title. “Primary Power” is the newest colorway of her signature Coco CG1 shoe—as the name implies, it takes inspiration from colors like blue and yellow with pops of red against a classic white background.

“The nostalgic use of primary colors and contrast trims holds the designs authentic to the spirit of tennis with a modern twist, specific to Coco,” said Jane Park, New Balance apparel designer, in an interview with *Forbes*.

“We wanted to energize her with a confident look on court for her to look and feel great.”

New Balance also unveiled two coordinating on-court looks to match the new CG1 colorway featuring her familiar crop top and skort combo: one in yellow with a pop of blue along the hem, and a reversed colorway in blue with a yellow contrast.

The skirt also features exposed elastic and mesh inserts at the waistline that create a criss-cross pattern and exaggerate the look of the curved crop top—a youthful touch that’s all Coco, according to New Balance designers.

But online, tennis fans were reminded more of a different look altogether: Serena Williams’ 2016 Australian Open outfit by Nike. The American also rocked a yellow crop top and skirt with contrasting hems during her run to the final in Melbourne, where she lost to Angelique Kerber.

Soon there were memes galore on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, with one in particular featuring a tongue-in-cheek fictional quote that fooled even Gauff herself:

“With this kit, I definitely wanted to channel my inner Serena,” wrote user Cas (@AO_SW19), along with a side-by-side comparison of the outfits. “She is an inspiration on and off the court so this one is for her… it even has the lil crop top she had [giggles].”

Even though the user’s bio warns fans “don’t take anything seriously”, the tweet had already racked up thousands of interactions and had been widely shared before Gauff saw it and set the record straight.

“You had me fooled 😭 I even sent the tweet to my agent and I was like ‘I don’t remember ever saying this?’” Gauff told her followers.

“Nothing wrong with it, (y'all) know I love Serena (but) it wasn’t inspired by her kit,” Gauff clarified. “She is a fashion queen (though)!! I just literally thought I was going crazy for two mins hahaha 😂”

As New Balance continues to strengthen its ties to tennis, the Boston-based sportswear giant became the official performance apparel and footwear sponsor of the Australian Open, which kicks off on Sunday, January 15. Gauff will be the No. 3 seed as she seeks her second Grand Slam title.