Former champion Bianca Andreescu may have some awkward meetings with her sponsor Nike to look forward to, after she blamed the brand for its poorly designed dress, which provoked her to make a wardrobe change during her US Open match.
Andreescu, 22, is not one to mince her words at the best of times and applied her trademark blunt approach on court on Monday when she publicly bad-mouthed her sponsors.
She had been warming up for her first round match against Harmony Tan when the breeze kept blowing the skirt of her dress up. It was affecting her ability to serve and strike the ball comfortably, so at the end of the warm up she approached the umpire to negotiate a bathroom break - making sure she would not lose her bathroom privileges during the match - in order to change.
"This isn't my fault, it's Nike's fault," she said plainly, adding: "The dress is so bad." The umpire allowed her the break, and she returned in a Nike crop top and skirt. It seemed to do the trick, as she went on to beat Tan 6-0 2-6 6-1 to progress to the second round at Flushing Meadows.
bibi ended nike kit designers???? pic.twitter.com/cjBqbAQRzH
But afterwards she backtracked and apologised for her "choice of wording".
"It was just bothering me on some forehands, I just felt like it was kind of coming up a bit," she said of the dress. "Obviously the wind didn't help. But I meant no disrespect with what I said to the umpire... I could have definitely used a different choice of wording. So I apologize to anyone I disrespected. I love Nike and I hope I can be with them for the rest of my life."
But the exchange will not land well at the sportswear giant who would have been banking on only positive press thanks to Serena Williams's eye-catching ensemble on Monday.
Serena Williams will wear a figure skating-inspired Nike dress at the US Open that she designed - made of 6 layers to honor her 6 past titles at Flushing.
Her NikeCourt Flare 2 shoes include a diamond-encrusted Swoosh and solid gold lace deubrés with 400 hand-set diamonds. pic.twitter.com/9CxtGwQQlU
23-time major champion Williams's designed her own figure skating-inspired black dress made of six layers - to honour her six US Open titles - and shoes which includes 400 hand-set diamonds.
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