Billie Jean King Slams French Open Officials for Banning Serena Williams’s ‘Catsuit’
Published to New York Magazine on August 27, 2018
Last week, French Open officials proclaimed that they will ban Serena Williams from wearing her Nike bodysuit at the tournament next year, saying “we’ve gone too far,” and “one must respect the place and the game.” According to Williams, the compression suit was designed to prevent blood clots, which almost killed her last year after she gave birth to her daughter.
Billie Jean King, widely hailed as one of the other top female tennis players of all time, took to Twitter to call out the Open. “The policing of women’s bodies must end,” she wrote. “The ‘respect’ that’s needed is for the exceptional talent Serena Williams brings to the game. Criticizing what she wears to work is where the true disrespect lies.”