It appears Serena Williams was looking to make a fashion statement yet again this year, while playing on court in her daring outfit at the French Open.
It comes a year after the 23-grand slam champion caused a stir at the French Open last year with her black panther catsuit, which resulted in the tournament implementing a change in the dress code to regulate players’ uniforms.
“I think that sometimes we’ve gone too far,” the French Tennis federation president, Bernard Giudicelli, said at the time.
“One must respect the game and the place.”
However, Williams’ latest black and white ensemble appeared to tick all the boxes – with a twist – as it was the design of the two-piece outfit that turned heads.
The Nike garments were designed by Virgil Abloh and features the words “Champion, “Queen” and “Mother” written on the fabric.
“It has words in French which talks about me being a mum, a queen and a champion. It’s all positive re-enforcement for me and I kind of love that,” Williams told Tennis Channel.
The day before her first match, the mother-of-one took to social media to reveal the full look, which included a cape and long skirt.
The “super-hero” duped outfit seemed to work out for the tennis champ in the end as well, as she overcame a slow start for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 win against 83rd ranked Vitalia Diatchenko in her opening game.
She went on to only lose one out of the last 13 games, resulting in securing herself a spot in the second round.
Speaking of her terrible start in the first set, the former world number one admitted, “I just got nervous out there and I stopped moving my feet.
“And it was like concrete blocks on my feet. I was, like, ‘You’ve got to do something.’
“I was just making so many errors. Every shot I hit, I felt like I was hitting on my frame. I usually don’t hit balls on my frame. I was just off, basically, and then instead of correcting it, I just kept getting worse.”
Williams added, “I knew it couldn’t get worse and I knew I could only go up. That’s what I told myself.”
Scroll through the gallery above to see Serena William’s daring French Open outfit.
