If you watched Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters play mixed yesterday in the round of 64, you might’ve noticed that their outfits were a little off. The top seeds are usually aligned with their outfits. But this time, the pair missed the mark on their matching.  

Waters wore a teal skirt and black shirt from Nike. And Johns wore bright blue shorts and a white shirt.

This mis-match was something that the broadcasters on Pickleballtv, Sarah Ansboury and Michelle McMahon noticed too and inquired about during their post-match interview.

“Ben, I don’t think you did your job today with matching Anna Leigh’s outfit, so what’s going on here?” asked Ansboury.

Johns, Waters, and McMahon couldn’t help but laugh at Ansboury’s burning question.

“It’s entirely my fault. She told me what to wear in the morning and I think I packed in the dark. I packed the blue instead of the teal, and somehow, I didn’t have a black shirt. It was a catastrophe this morning, I take full responsibility. Blame being color blind and dressing in the dark,” said Johns.

Then Waters interrupted.

“I’m sorry you can’t blame your partial color blindness. He’s not actually color blind,” Waters clarified.

Johns has shared previously that Waters’ handles the fashion in the partnership. Waters establishes the color combinations and Johns matches. So far this season, he’s churned out some really nice looks to compliment Waters in mixed.

But this look didn’t compliment her at all. His outfit isn’t bad, it’s just not matching hers.

However, during the round of 32, Johns showed up to play singles in one of his best looks from the tournament.

Johns wore this excellent green, teal, and white look that is worthy of the best dressed list. He wore JOOLA’s new green hat, baby blue shirt, teal shorts, white compression sleeves, white crew socks, and JOOLA court shoes.

This look is so excellent. Especially considering his fashion mishap from yesterday. I love the color combination with the blue, teal, and green. Such a lovely color combination that looks so sharp on him

And I have to acknowledge the styling. Where most people fall short is the styling. A good outfit isn’t strictly about having a matching top and bottom, it’s also about the styling. Do the shoes, hat, and every accessory match? And the easiest way to achieve that is by simply wearing all black or white accessories. Johns nailed it by wearing all white accessories and keeping the look clean.  

But the funny thing is — I can only assume this look wasn’t intentional. This was a happy accident in his fashion game. Johns said so himself, he’s not a fashion guy and blames having partial color blindness. He shows up to play, and his fashion is the last thing on his mind.

So when he shows up in a look that’s this well done, I must give him some praise.  

Only Ben Johns can show up with his best fit of the tournament to play left-handed singles on grandstand court. But at least he (unintentionally) looked his best.

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