It didn’t cost her any points because it was only a warning, but it’s more the principle of it all.
It all seems a little bit unfair that Novak Djokovic was allowed to sit there on the side of the Flushing Meadows court for every single spectator in the crowd to see him in all his glory in 2015.
This is not a strange sight. Male tennis players are permitted to change their shirts on court and many of them take off their tops to cool down in between games and sets.
And never is an eyelid batted.
Yet, three years on in 2018, the French female tennis player Alize Cornet took off her shirt because she had it on back the front during her opening round loss to Johanna Larsson, only to be issued with a code violation by the court umpire in charge.
The World Number 31 called for a time-out mid-way through her match because she had been struggling with the heat. She’d observed WTA rules by retreating to the locker-room in order to change her shirt.
On her way back to the baseline, she remonstrated with umpire Christian Rask over the length of the walk back from the designated cool-down spot to the court.
Upon returning to the baseline, she discovered that she had her shirt on the wrong away around, so she took it off to whip it around as a result.
It was clearly a common sense approach because she didn’t want to make that long walk back to the cool-down area again. However, Rask showed no such empathy and he issued her with a slap on the wrist.
Rask was on the recieving end of plenty of criticism for his call. In fairness, he was just following the rules but surely some common sense could have been shown in this instance. Andy Murray’s mother Judy was among those to slate the rules.
You can watch a video of the incident below.
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. https://t.co/sCN4KDXYTb— judy murray (@JudyMurray) August 28, 2018
Let’s not forget, the temperature are reaching searing heights of up and over 40 degrees in New York where a number of players have been seen to have been struggling on court.
It’s no surprise that a number of dissenting voices have criticised the double standard that exists in the sport.
