In her Own Words – Alize Cornet Responds to Warning and Then Apology From the USTA on Changing Shirt
(August 29, 2018) FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY – WTA player Alize Cornet met the media on Wednesday to address the USTA’s apology for giving her an unsportsmanlike conduct warning for changing her shirt in the backcourt during her first round match.
*UPDATE pic.twitter.com/7loxwdzosU
— AlexCam (@followalexcam) August 29, 2018
“Well, I think it’s very fair from them (USTA) to apologize to me,” said Cornet. I really appreciate it. I mean, I think that the proportion that it took is huge. When I woke up this morning, I didn’t think that this code violation would become so famous in less than 24 hours, and I’m very surprised about it, actually, to be honest. Because on the court, it really seemed like a mistake from the umpire and nothing else. That’s how I take it.”
“I think just the umpire was probably overwhelmed by the situation. You know, we were all very hot outside. Maybe it just didn’t make the right decision. Of course, I was surprised when I just changed T-shirt really quick and he gave me the code violation, I didn’t expect it, and I told him it was pretty weird.
“But it just stayed on his position and I kept playing, I was trying to win my match. So I just got over it very fast. And now after thinking about it, yeah, I’m just convinced that the umpire was making a mistake.
“But I don’t involve the USTA in all this, and they apologized very quickly to me, so no problem”
Cornet did not notice that her shirt was on backwards, until the third set.
“Usually when I put my clothes on, I put it the right way, Cornet said with a smile. “So when I went out for the 10-minute break and I had to run back because I was late for the beginning of the third set, I just put my T-shirt super fast, and I didn’t see that it was the wrong way.
“So my boyfriend told me, Your T-shirt is reversed. I was, like, What?
“For me, I couldn’t play the whole third set like this. The T-shirt was here (up to chin, demonstrating) it didn’t seem right to me at the moment, and there was, I mean, no thoughts or nothing.”
Asked if she thought that women and men were treated fair in terms of wardrobe, a reporter also questioned her about the French Tennis Federation President banning Serena Williams’ catsuit outfit from Roland Garros.
“Yeah, five days I believe a lot of things have happened. Doesn’t have the equity in sport at the moment.
“It’s two different things. How can I say? I think that now, of course it can be better, inequity between men and women, but I think we are on the right path. I really believe it. Everybody is working in the same direction. I think we are doing all very good.
“Then we still have some people, like, the president of my federation that lives in another, you know, time and can still do these kind of comments. They are totally for me shocking, and, I mean, I’m just saying what I think.
“What Bernard Giudicelli said about Serena’s cat suit was 10,000 times worse than what happened to me on the court yesterday, because he’s the president of French Federation and because he doesn’t have to do that.
“So, yeah, this kind of person doesn’t have the work that we are all doing to make it more fair for women.”
Asked about the reaction from her fellow players, she said:
“Yeah, that was pretty crazy, actually. When I came in this morning in the locker room, like, many players came to me. Even former players, like Tracy Austin, I was very honored to be actually approached by her like that.
“And they were just giving me all their support. I mean, everybody was pretty scared that I could get a fine for it. I was also scared. I was, like, Oh, I had a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct. So it seemed really strong to me. I was really scared to get a fine for it.
“So all the players were supporting me for that, and were telling me that if I get fined, we would all be together and see the WTA, you know, and make a revolution and stuff. I was, like, Calm down. I’m going to get the information first and then we see if we make a revolution or not.
“It was nice to have the girls’ support or not. It feels like when something’s happening, we’re kind of a family, and everybody is regrouping. It feels nice.”
Related Articles:
USTA and WTA Statments on Change of Attire Policy
Serena Williams Addresses “Catsuit” Controversy in US Open Pre-Tournament News Conference
Cornet Topples Wimbledon Champ Kerber as Stephens and Sharapova Cruise to Easy Wins
