US Open: It’s a sports bra, for goodness sakes!
No Grand Slam would be one
without some controversy. We’ve scarcely started the US Open and already a
player has received a code violation. We were all shocked to see a…….sports bra!
Not a lingerie bra but a black, non-see-through full sports bra. Alize Cornet,
simply slipped off her top to turn it the right way round but the male umpire
jumped on her and gave her a code violation. What did you want her to do? She’s
a top athlete she doesn’t want photos beamed around the world with her top on
the wrong way round. Journalists would have a field day! If she demurely leaves
the court like a heroine in a Jane Austen novel she receives a time violation. Alize
can’t win. Besides, one of the big topics often commented on is the bathroom
breaks. Apparently, these are unnecessary and merely strategic rather than
because the players are looking after their health by doing the right thing and
drinking to stay hydrated otherwise they can become seriously ill. This is
especially true when there are extenuating circumstances, such as extremely hot
conditions as was the case when Alize was playing. This unbelievably outdated
response to Alize is yet another example of policing women’s bodies (as Billie
Jean King put it when referring to the French Open ban on Serena’s catsuit
which is worn for medical reasons)! Many athletes compete in sports bras and
skimpy sports knickers. Are we scandalised? No. We all happily watch the
runners, hurdlers, pole vaulters, long jump competitors, and more, as these photos
show:
And we don’t bat an eye when
women in football, soccer or handball celebrate by ripping their shirts off:
What is going on in tennis? Men
can take their shirts off whenever but women have to sweat and swelter and be
uncomfortable in sports bras and tops. Sexist? Absolutely! Men don’t wear bras
so they have one less layer already so have less reason than women to be stripping
off. However, even they can come up against some ridiculous time rule as Nadal,
to his surprise, found out.
Talking of clothes, I love Serena’s
Nike Bold Ballerina dress. It’s a great way to combine dance and tennis so
right up my street! I’d love to wear that outfit! Just beautiful, take a close look
here:
All this has overshadowed Halep’s
first round loss which she took in her stride but not before smashing her
racquet on the ground. Good for her – it let out all her frustration. Why did
she lose? Why does anyone lose? It happens. It was hot. She’s played a number
of warm-up tournaments, she lost a second’s concentration, she was tired. It
can be any number of reasons. Negativity? Well, facing Kanepi and her extremely hard
hitting groundies, changing direction of the ball, playing short balls, wrong
footing, awkward placement of the ball, all while she's making Halep run all over the
court in the heat. Who wouldn’t be negative? Especially since Halep didn’t like
the heat at the Australian Open and had to have medical attention. I didn’t
expect Halep to win the US Open given the conditions and given she played so
many warm-up tournaments together with losing in Cincinnati, after having match
point, only a week or so before the US Open. However, she has taken a positive
out of it. She is the first to play on that court, the new Louis Armstrong Stadium.
That’s a good attitude. Stay positive, you are number 1 and will remain number
1 so focus on the next match and rest up!
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