(CNN) There was plenty of buzz when Rafael Nadal faced Victor Estrella Burgos at the Australian Open.
Nadal is a 16-time grand slam winner, the current world No. 1 and the Spaniard opened the night session on Rod Laver Arena as the grand slam tennis season got underway.
But most of that buzz seemed to revolve around what the 31-year-old Nadal was wearing. For the first time since 2008 at majors, the muscular left-hander donned a sleeveless shirt.
The look was commonplace early in Nadal's career, including when he beat Roger Federer in a 2008 Wimbledon final many consider to be the greatest tennis match of all time.
Accompanying the grey sleeveless Nike shirt, Nadal went with pink. His shorts, wristbands, headband and the bottom of his shoes were all pink.
Other players were quizzed about their choice of attire, including the man Nadal beat in last year's semifinals, Grigor Dimitrov, and Kyle Edmund, the lone British man in the draw after Andy Murray's injury withdrawal.
Murray's mum, Judy, said Edmund was "rocking the liquorice allsort outfit" in his upset win over US Open finalist Kevin Anderson, but the player himself wasn't so sure.
"I don't think pink really suits me," he said.
The King of Clay over the years
A lot has changed since a 19-year-old Rafael Nadal became only the second man in history to win Roland Garros at the first attempt. The bulging biceps, long hair and headband remain, but the Spaniard's sense of style has certainly changed.
Nadal went into his first French Open as an inexperienced 18-year-old and emerged a grand slam champion -- beating Roger Federer in the semifinals on his 19th birthday. The 2005 season was the birth of what would go on to be Nadal's classic look: sleeveless top and three-quarter length shorts.
By the following year, Nadal had cemented his place among tennis' elite and was developing a fearsome reputation on clay. This time wearing a slightly less garish light blue, Nadal picked up his second consecutive French Open title by becoming the first man to beat Roger Federer in a grand slam final.
In 2007, the then 20-year-old Nadal's status as the 'King of Clay' was sealed. Defeat to Federer at the Masters Series in Hamburg ended an 81-match unbeaten streak on clay, which remains a men's Open Era record today. At that year's French Open, Nadal opted for the reverse of 2006's top-bandana combo -- this time with matching trainers to boot.
A year later, Nadal opted for a variation on his debut French Option look, this time sporting an all-green combo. Nadal reached world No. 1 for the first time in his career in 2008, helped by his fourth consecutive Roland Garros title -- matching Bjorn Borg's record of consecutive trophies, while also becoming only the seventh man to win a grand slam without dropping a set.
Nadal's first dramatic transformation came in 2009. Gone were the sleeveless shirts and three-quarter lengths, in came the sleeves and fluorescent, clashing colors. Perhaps it was the sleeves restricting the powerful arms (or maybe a knee injury), but Nadal suffered the first of only two French Open defeats. Despite a shock fourth-round loss to Robin Soderling, Nadal set a record of 31 consecutive wins at Roland Garros.
In 2010, Nadal bounced back from the 2009 disappointment with a daring multicolored number. He went on to exact revenge on Soderling, beating him in the final after the Swede had upset Federer in the quarterfinals. Federer's failure to reach the semis meant Nadal regained the world No. 1 spot, while it was also the second time he won the French Open without dropping a set.
The following year, Nadal dialed down the brightness, instead choosing to return to one of his earliest Roland Garros styles. And it worked -- he maintained his No. 1 ranking throughout the clay court season and beat perennial rival Federer in the final.
Perhaps in an attempt to gain the upper hand on opponents by blending into the clay, Nadal opted for an orange-ish-red look for the first time at the French Open. It appeared to work, as Nadal dropped just 30 games in the first five rounds, before beating Djokovic in four sets in the final to claim his seventh Roland Garros title and surpass Borg as the tournament's most successful player.
The 2013 French Open was the debut of Nadal's latest wardrobe change: the short shorts. In an all-Spanish final, Nadal defeated David Ferrer in straight sets -- although bizarrely dropped from fourth in the world to fifth after his victory.
Perhaps a sign of entering into his late 20s, Nadal's colors switched from fluorescent to more mellow tones. Despite being hampered by injuries and suffering surprise defeats early in the clay court season, Nadal grinded out arguably his most impressive Roland Garros victory. Another victory in the final against Djokovic took him to 14 grand slams (level with Pete Sampras) and it was his fifth straight French Open triumph.
Nadal's struggle to find form continued into 2015's clay court season, dropping outside of the world's top five for the first time since 2005. Looking like an athletic version of the Cookie Monster, Nadal crashed out of the French Open in the quarterfinals to Djokovic. It ended his 39-match unbeaten run and marked just his second defeat on the Parisian clay.
The following year, the shorts got even shorter and the two-tone top returned as Nadal exited the French Open in the third round -- although this time it was a wrist injury that defeated him. Despite the disappointment, there was another milestone for Nadal as he became only the eighth man to reach 200 grand slam wins.
Nadal debuted his strong blue look against Benoit Paire in the first round and the King of Clay went on to complete "'La Decima" of 10 Roland Garros titles.
If last year's US Open, the final grand slam of 2017, saw Americans dominate the women's draw, then the opposite is true for the first grand slam of 2018.
Three of last year's four semifinalists in New York -- Venus Williams, CoCo Vandeweghe and Sloane Stephens -- all crashed out at the first hurdle at the Australian Open.
Williams herself admitted as much, hinting at a possible hangover from last year's success.
"This is, like, a new year," Williams, who was seeking to become the oldest grand slam winner in tennis history, told reporters. "You can't live in the previous year. It's impossible."
The only remaining semifinalist in the draw is Madison Keys, the beaten US Open finalist.
Meanwhile, it was also a tough day for the US on the men's side of the draw as seeded pair Jack Sock and John Isner both fell to unfancied opposition.
Sock can at least still take pride in the fact his sock knowledge is second to none.
READ: Billie Jean King calls for Australian Open court to be renamed
READ: Federer given tricky Australian Open draw
Stat of the day: This is the first time either of the Williams sisters haven't been in a grand slam second round since 1997.
Australian Open 2018: Three decades of Venus Williams in Melbourne
Venus Williams first played in the Australian Open at Melbourne Park in 1998.
Venus won the Australian Open women's doubles title with sister Serena in 2001.
Two years later the sisters again won the women's doubles title at Melbourne Park after beating Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain and Paola Suarez of Argentina.
That same year the two sisters also met in the Australian Open women's singles final with their mother Oracene watching. Serena won the match 7-6 3-6 6-4.
In 2005, Venus was seeded eighth but was knocked out by Alicia Molik of Australia.
A year later Venus was the No. 1 seed at Melbourne Park but made a surprise exit in the first round after Bulgarian teenager Tsvetana Pironkova beat the American 6-2 0-6 9-7.
In 2009, the two Williams sisters won their third Australian Open women's doubles title after beating Ai Sugiyama of Japan and Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.
A year later the American sisters won their fourth Australian Open women's doubles title after beating Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Liezel Huber of the US 6-4 6-3.
Since 1998, Venus has missed three Australian Open tournaments, twice due to wrist injuries and in 2012 following her diagnosis with Sjögren's syndrome in 2011. She got as far as the third round in the women's singles in 2013 where she was beaten by Russian Maria Sharapova.
Last year the two Williams sisters met in the Australian Open women's singles final for a second with Serena again getting the better of Venus, winning 6-4 6-4. Serena won't be at Melbourne Park to defend her title following the birth of her first child and if Venus were to win this year she's become the oldest player -- male or female -- to win a major in the Open era.
Last year Venus made the final but lost to Serena in straight sets.
And on Monday, Venus had a tough draw in the first round and was beaten by Belinda Bencic 6-3 7-5.
You can read more about the Australian Open here.
Golfer's wife helps him claim biggest prize of his career
It's not often you hear a golfer admit his caddy "doesn't know that much about golf."
But after Chris Paisley's regular bag carrier went on an extended holiday, the Englishman was forced to take emergency measures.
At the final hour, Paisley's wife, Keri, stepped in to help out ... and to amazing effect.
The 31-year-old won the South African Open Championship, securing his maiden title on the European Tour and beating local favorite and world No. 30 Branden Grace.
Paisley went into the tournament ranked 286th in the world but his victory has seen him rocket to a career-high 121, while also picking up a cool $192,578 for his win.
Chris Paisley kisses caddy and wife Keri after his victory during the South African Open Championship.
Read more about Paisley's victory here.
England mourns death of former footballer
English football is in mourning following the death of trailblazing black star Cyrille Regis.
The feared former West Bromwich Albion striker, who passed away aged just 59, made a name for himself on the pitch during the 1970s and 80s, when racism was still rife on the terraces of English stadiums.
Capped five times by England between 1982 and 1987, Regis was sent a bullet in the post when he was first called up to represent the national team.
Arriving in England from French Guiana when he was just five, Regis first signed for West Brom in 1977 where he played alongside two other black players, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson.
The trio became known as the "Three Degrees" and were frequently the targets of racist abuse and chants.
Regis described some of that abuse in a recent interview with CNN.
"The worst for me was getting my first England cap and receiving a bullet through the post saying 'if you put your foot on our Wembley turf, you'll get one of these for your knees,'" Regis recalled.
"But in England I think we've come a long, long way from where we were in the seventies," he added.
Cyrille Regis pictured in the colors of Coventry City in 1987.
You can read more about the pioneering football star here.
F-bomb on live TV
The excitement of being the manager of the first team to beat Manchester City in the Premier League this season was clearly too much to handle for Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool's charismatic German coach dropped the F-bomb live on US TV following his side's thrilling 4-3 win at Anfield.
"You can look at this game in a few different ways," said Klopp on NBC. "As a manager, you can say we could have done this and that better or you can look at it as a football fan and say what the f*** was that?"
He then jokingly added: "Oh, I thought in America it's OK. In England, it's not possible."
Liverpool's victory also ended Manchester City's hopes of going an entire Premier League season unbeaten, a feat only previously accomplished by Arsenal's "Invincibles" of the 2003/04 season.
Watch Jurgen Klopp's slip of the tongue here.
'This is just the beginning, baby'
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a game away from reaching Super Bowl LI after dismantling the Pittsburgh Steelers 45-42 on Sunday in the AFC divisional round.
Leonard Fournette #27 of the Jacksonville Jaguars dives into the end zone for a touchdown.
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It's the first time Jacksonville has been this far in the NFL season since the 1999 campaign.
Should the Jaguars reach the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history, they're going to have to do it on the home turf of the defending champs -- Jacksonville will now face the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
After the win over the Steelers, the Jaguars returned to EverBank Field in Jacksonville, where an estimated 10,000 fans welcomed them.
"We're not done yet," defensive end Calais Campbell said, according to the team's website. "This is just the beginning, baby. All the hard work is for this moment, right here. We're going to the Super Bowl. Let's go."
You can find out more about the Jaguars' revival here.