US Open Penalizes Player For Fixing Attire On Court, Apologizes After Social Media Uproar

After Serena Williams and her body-hugging, black catsuit sent waves across the world of tennis, here is another news coming from the sport. This time, it is French professional Alize Cornet, who has been penalized.

The 28-year-old Alize Cornet, was in the middle of a US Open match when she realized that she was wearing her shirt backwards. She went onto pull off the shirt swiftly on the court and fixed her garment from back-to-front.

 

The incident was not taken lightly by the chair umpire who warned her for violating a code, immediately after the incident. The player was seen in a conversation with the umpire before getting ready for her next serve.

You can watch the video here:

Cornet( info – @nicklester , @BenRothenberg,@ymanojkumar)(🎥Eurosport) pic.twitter.com/RlfQT3t77a

— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) August 28, 2018

The incident fuelled a whole new debate on Twitter and the viewers seemed unhappy with the warning given to her. People slammed the management highlighting the disparity between the male and female players.

US Tennis Open Alizé Cornet take top off because it was back to front and she’s been penalised for breaking the rules. And yet Novak Djokovic can change his top and nothing is said. Sexism in Tennis it’s the 21st Century FFS. pic.twitter.com/iwVXHh779u

— 𝙄𝙊𝘼𝙉, (@GamingWelchman) August 29, 2018

https://twitter.com/_cmarier/status/1034766697092317184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1034766697092317184&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news18.com%2Fnews%2Fbuzz%2Fus-open-warns-alize-cornet-because-she-fixed-shirt-on-court-kicking-off-sexism-debate-apologises-later-1861593.html

Busted for code violation 🙄 #alizecornet took 10 sec to turn top right way but #novacdjokovic can sit for minutes half-naked. Same comp. Days after @serenawilliams slammed for disrespecting tennis because she wore a #catsuit. Not fair. Not right. Tell your daughters 🙌 pic.twitter.com/pJILnwvUvG

— Alissa Warren (@alissawarren) August 29, 2018

When @alizecornet got slapped with a code violation by @usta in the @usopen, while male players sat shirtless, it was just another reminder that we are not where we should be with #Equality. #womensequality #usopen18 #ForReal pic.twitter.com/0xJOS5vdpK

— Alissa Kostyk (@lissakostyk) August 29, 2018

However, upon realizing their mistake, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) took to Twitter to issue an apology.

“All players can change their shirts when sitting in the player chair. This is not considered a Code Violation.

“We regret that a Code Violation was assessed to Ms. Cornet yesterday. We have clarified the policy to ensure this will not happen moving forward. Fortunately, she was only assessed a warning with no further penalty or fine.

“Female players, if they choose, may also change their shirts in a more private location close to the court, when available. They will not be assessed a bathroom break in this circumstance.”

Following the outrage on Twitter, the WTA also came in support of Alize and stated that she “did nothing wrong” on the court.

pic.twitter.com/EksATTW1f1

— wta (@WTA) August 29, 2018

“The code violation that USTA handed to Alize Cornet during her first round match at the US Open was unfair and it was not based on a WTA rule, as the WTA has no rule against a change of attire on court. The WTA has always been and always will be a pioneer for women and women’s sports. This code violation came under the Grand Slam rules and we are pleased to see the USTA has now changed this policy. Alize did nothing wrong.”

Woah. What a brilliant example of standing up for the right. Rules should be similar for every individual who plays the sport and we thank US Open for realizing it, Better late than never!