French tennis player Alize Cornet has come under considerable controversy from US Open officials after taking off her top on court after she put it on the wrong way round.
The incident, naturally, has sparked off a sexism discussion focusing on the fact male tennis players regularly remove their shirts during matches, yet face no consequences.
Under WTA regulations, female players are not granted time to change their clothing while on the court. However there is no similar rule in place for men.
Judy Murray is among the critics expressing their issues with the contentious move or rather the code violation made by her match umpire.
To add insult to injury, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were seen on Tuesday whipping their kit off as they played through the intense heat that hit New York during the tournament.
Both genders are permitted to take 10-minute heat breaks, with women allowed to take one before the start of the third and men before the fourth set. When Cornet returned from hers, officials noticed she had put her top back on the wrong way round, the Independent reports.
Instead of delaying the match, Cornet decided to make the change on the court over going back to the locker room.
She made sure she turned her back on the television cameras before removing her top. All-in-all it took 10 seconds. Just as she was about to resume the match, chair umpire Christian Rask punished her by announcing a code violation for ‘unsportsmanlike behaviour’.
Former Great Britain FedEx cup captain Judy Murray slated the regulation taking to social media.
She wrote on Twitter:
Alize Cornet came back to court after 10 minute heat break. Had her fresh shirt on back to front. Changed at back of court. Got a code violation. Unsportsmanlike conduct…. But the men can change shirts on court.
Former Australian player Casey Dellacqua labelled the incident ‘ridiculous’ while American player Bethanie MattekSands called it ‘weak.’
Only recently 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams was banend by French Open officials from sporting her standard black catsuit. Williams shunned the move and responded by donning a black tutu during her first-round victory over Carina Witthoft at the US Open on Monday.
Williams had been wearing the catsuit after she suffered life-threatening blood clots last year following the birth of her daughter Olympia.
She said at the time:
I feel like if and when they know that some things are for health reasons, then there’s no way that they wouldn’t be OK with it. So I think it’s fine.
When it comes to fashion, you don’t want to be repeat offender.
We’ll have to see how this one plays out.
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