Serena Williams Competes in a Tutu After Being Told to ‘Respect the Game’

Lifestyle & Sports
29 Aug 18

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 27: Serena Williams of the United States returns the ball during her women's singles first round match against Magda Linette of Poland on Day One of the 2018 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 27, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
2018 Getty Images

Sarah O'Byrne

She played in a custom-designed tutu by Louis Vuitton designer Virgil Abloh and Nike in her match against Magda Linette.

Despite fans and media praising Williams’ ‘Black Panther’ catsuit, the president of the French Tennis Federation was not a fan. Bernard Giudicelli, the French Tennis Federation president, said in a Tennis Magazine interview that “it will no longer be accepted. You have to respect the game and the place.”

In a defiant response, the first round of the U.S. Open saw Williams, a six-time champion, sporting a black tutu over Nike brand leggings. She won 6-4 6-0 against opponent, Linette.

French Open: The catsuit is inappropriate and does not meet our oppressive, paternalistic standards of femininity. @serenawilliams: Watch me dominate the court in a tutu. pic.twitter.com/yWaGtz7n5E

— Aisha Alexander (@AishaThinker) August 28, 2018