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US OPEN CHIEFS have said they were wrong to sanction French tennis player Alize Cornet for removing her shirt on court, an incident which saw the tournament accused of sexism and double standards.
Cornet slipped off her shirt, revealing a black sports bra, after realising she had put it on back-to-front while off court during a 10-minute heat break before the third set of her first round defeat against Sweden’s Johanna Larsson yesterday.
However, there was a storm of criticism for umpire Christian Rask’s decision to issue a code violation to 28-year-old Cornet while male players were free to change shirts on court to combat Tuesday’s 38-degree heat.
“All players can change their shirts when sitting in the player chair. This is not considered a code violation,” said organisers in a statement issued today.
“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.
The tournament was blasted for double standards over the incident, especially as it came just days after the French Open said it would ban Serena Williams from wearing her ‘Black Panther’ bodysuit again at Roland Garros.
“Alize Cornet came back to court after 10 minute heat break. Had her fresh shirt on back to front. Changed at back of court. Got a code violation. Unsportsmanlike conduct….. But the men can change shirts on court,” tweeted Judy Murray, the mother of former world number one Andy Murray and a leading coach and respected voice in the sport.
Guardian sport / TwitterUS Open apologises after Alizé Cornet penalised for removing shirt https://t.co/AYi6y0WTpI By @tom_lutz pic.twitter.com/yrt7S5Ewgq
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) August 29, 2018
(Click here if video doesn’t play)
The WTA said the code violation “was unfair and not based on a WTA rule, as the WTA has no rule against a change of attire on court”.
A spokeswoman added:
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.
Former world number one and two-timer major winner Victoria Azarenka said she was pleased the USTA had apologised.
But she believes there remain serious issues over how men and women are treated on tour.
“If I would say my true feelings, it would be bleeped out, because it was ridiculous. It wasn’t anything disrespectful,” said the Belarusian after reaching the third round with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Daria Gavrilova.
Things and issues like this need to stop at the beginning. It cannot develop anymore. It’s enough. You know, the things with the cat suit, I personally don’t understand it. No idea what it means disrespecting the game playing in the cat suit? There is always a double standard for men and women.
Many on social media were quick to point out that just a few hours after the Cornet incident, Wimbledon champion and two-time US Open winner Novak Djokovic sat courtside on Arthur Ashe Stadium with his shirt removed and with an ice towel draped around his shoulders.
Last week, French tennis federation (FFT) president Bernard Giudicelli sparked claims of sexism when he banned Williams’s black body suit from next year’s Roland Garros.
“You have to respect the game and the place,” said Giudicelli who added there will be “certain limits” on clothing for the 2019 French Open.
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The more I read and research, the more I think the EU is a scam, and our boys have fallen for it hook, line and sinker.
what did you find in your research?
They all genuinely believed in it.
Most external economists pointed out the inherent flaws and problems it would cause, famous noble economist Milton Friedman, wrote a prescient article in the late 90′s outlining why.
It reads like a summary of the last 15 years.
Germany, France, Italy, Holland are all locked in to sub-par or zero growth as far as the eye can see.
The continent will be long burst before the current strategy delivers.
The project itself is flawed, not just the regulation.
And the scam continues
The EU is a disaster. It’s only a matter of time until ‘the rules’ don’t suit the big guys anymore and then BANG little old Ireland having taken the hit for so long will be back in the mire due to ‘unforeseen crisis’ watch this space. It’s shagged.
Certainly the larger states have a habit of ignoring EU directives or having laws fudged for them.
However the Euro has destroyed their growth as well.
Germany, Holland, France, Italy all have had sub par growth or decline for 15 years.
All have seen trade with each other decline in since Euro came in.
Think that’s bad, check out EU’s own growth predications for the next 10 years… Then look at Youth unemployment figures across the med and here right now. EU bang on about tough decisions etc etc, the real tough decision that needs to be made is for somebody to admit this is a failure sooner rather than later.
Yet no one will talk about them.
The Eurozone is an economic disaster for internal trade, jobs, growth, etc etc.
It is destroying the North of Europe as surely as the South, just at a slower pace and their exports are hiding it.
We are going to have to wait a few more years, the Eurozone and EU have a cult following and loyalty.
They can’t fix it, the devaluations to bring the disparate forces in to line would destroy demand and employment in most of the continent for decades to come.
If I ever meet anyone who admits to voting for Brian Hayes I will slap them. The cost of this monster has been €8000 per head. This elephant can’t be fed and we are killing ourselves and starving our children trying.
Where do you get the €8000 per head figure from?
Ireland has paid 42% of the total cost of the European banking crisis, at a cost of close to €9,000 per person, according to Eurostat.
That’s were I got figure
“Ireland has paid 42% of the total cost of the European banking crisis, at a cost of close to €9,000 per person, according to Eurostat.”
Germany’s bank bailout cost her ~€300 billion.
Ireland’s cost her ~€65 billion.
65 billion isn’t even 25% of 300 billion.
If we didn’t even pay for a quarter of Germany’s bank bailout, how could we have paid for 42% of the whole of Europe’s.
The 42% figure is propagated by people who either can’t interpret figures correctly or more deviously, people with an agenda for whom fact does not matter.
Every single Eastern European capital has mover closer to the Viennese standard of living except Slovenia’s. Key difference, it is in the Euro.
For 15 years the Eurozone has had problems with growth, half of it has been chronic.
The ECB itself does not predict any decent growth this decade, especially in the well run North of it.
There is something far deeper wrong here than just the banking regulation.
no matter how fast you spin it this is bad news and further ties us into Euro and EU, no accountability, it means things like MARP can’t happen in response to national crises and this model is untested. It means a regulator is unaccountable and not appointed by elected government. The ECB is also not accountable and the name is as miss leading. The Emperor has no clothes.
Jobs for the boys on a European scale! All looking out for themselves!
An Irish politician educating us on how banks work….isn’t that a contradiction!
Most of Europe’s banks at the time were broke as well, including German ones.
They just let us take the hit and later on flooded their own ones with cheap LTRO trillions.
You have Germans telling us they are an economic miracle with 2% growth. Holland is a stable success story with bare growth for 10 years.
Sick parody.
” new pan-eurozone Single Supervisory Mechanism. ” – & so, the plot thickens…
“Staff working on the Supervisory Mechanism will not be entitled to regulate banks in their home country.”
Imagine if this had been the case in Celtic Tiger Ireland…
“Let’s remember that the financial crisis was truly European in nature and to eradicate potential future contagion, we need to develop a unified European approach.” Really????
So when people spoke out about the EU not being fit for purpose Brian, you told us it was a global issue/crisis starting with Lehman Brothers…No???
I for one certainly agree that most of our current problems are “truly European in nature”, but not exclusively. Cowards in FF, FG and LB also share that accolade.
have your say