PARIS: Serena Williams said Saturday she doesn’t have a problem with the French Open’s new dress code, which would bar her from wearing the skin-tight “catsuit” she donned for her opening match at the event earlier this year.
Williams, who says the catsuit helped her deal with blood clots, said she’s found that compression shorts help keep her blood circulating just as well.
“When it comes to fashion, you don’t want to be a repeat offender,” she joked on Saturday, per the Associated Press.
Williams wore the catsuit for her opening match at Roland Garros this year, saying it made her feel like a superhero and dedicating it to new mothers.
“All the moms out there that had a tough pregnancy … have to come back and try to be fierce, in (the) middle of everything,” said Williams, who was returning from a long layoff after the birth of her first child.
Shoe giant Nike stuck up for Williams in a Friday night tweet.
“You can take the superhero out of her costume, but you can never take away her superpowers,” it read.
French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli mentioned the outfit in addressing the new policy.
“It will no longer be accepted. One must respect the game and the place,” said Giudicelli.
The new rules weren’t released, but Giudicelli says they won’t be as restrictive as Wimbledon’s all-white policy.
