Women's tennis and its archaic, sexist, misogynist officials

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The Alize Cornet code violation controversy at the ongoing US Open has once again brought the age-old allegations of "sexism" and "gender bias" in tennis back to the forefront. Quite bizarrely, France's Cornet was handed a code violation by the chair umpire during her match against Johanna Larsson of Switzerland at the Flushing Meadows for changing her top on the sidelines.

Although the WTA, the women's governing body in world tennis, lashed out at the code violation decision and a number of people across the globe came down heavily on this fresh controversy, it was former tennis coach Judy Murray, also the mother of British Grand Slam winner Andy Murray, who stirred the hornet's nest with her tweet.

"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," she tweeted on Aug. 28.

Serena Williams walks out onto court during her women's singles fourth round match against Kaia Kanepi of Estonia (not pictured) during the 2018 US Open on September 2, 2018. /VCG Photo

The WTA, in no time, washed their hands of the controversy after calling the ruling "unfair" and blaming the "Grand Slam rules" set by the US Tennis Association (USTA).

However, it's not only the USTA that caused quite a stir thanks to its archaic code laws. Very recently, the French Open authorities lashed out at "supermom" Serena Williams for setting tongues wagging with her black Catsuit this year at Roland Garros. French Tennis Federation President Bernard Giudicelli later issued a statement saying the clay-court major won't allow any of its future participants to wear such dresses.

Her clothing partner Nike came out with a strong punch line that read: "You can take the superhero out of her costume, but you can never take away her superpowers." But Williams took her subtle yet strong protest a step further by walking onto Arthur Ashe Stadium wearing a black leather biker jacket, a black one-shoulder silhouette dress and a tulle skirt.

However, these two recent issues have once again highlighted the draconian dress codes and archaic mindset of tennis officials, who don't seem to have changed their medieval mindset for decades and generations.

Gertrude 'Gussy' Moran of the US in action at 1949 Wimbledon, wearing frilly underwear that caused controversy. /VCG Photo

Way back in 1949, Gertrude or "Gussie" Moran of the US came under the wrath of the Wimbledon officials for wearing lace-trimmed underwear and was accused of bringing "vulgarity and sin into tennis" by the overtly conservative All England Tennis Club.

Anne White of the US hits a forehand lob whilst wearing a one-piece tennis outfit at 1985 Wimbledon. /VCG Photo

A few decades later, in 1985, a stylish Anne White wore the original Catsuit, designed by Moran's "trendy underwear" designer, Ted Tinling, but came under heavy fire from officials, who banned the white suit even though it adhered to the club's all-white policy.

Serena Williams of the US hits a backhand return during her women's singles final match against Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland (not pictured) at the Wimbledon in 2012. /VCG Photo

Many years later, in 2010, Serena kickstarted a new fashion controversy by wearing hot pink underwear at the All England Club, and subsequently, in 2012, sported a deep fuchsia undergarment and a matching headband, inviting an official crackdown on colorful undergarments at the age-old British tennis major in 2014.

Ana Ivanovic of Serbia serves the ball to France's Oceane Dodin (not pictured) during their women's first round match at Roland Garros in 2016. / VCG Photo

A couple of years later, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia raised a few eyebrows at Roland Garros in 2016, donning a dazzling zebra-patterned camouflage outfit, although the criticism mostly came from her opponent players distracted by the Adidas outfit.

Eugenie Bouchard of Canada plays a backhand during the women's singles third round match against Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia (not pictured) at the Wimbledon in 2016. /VCG Photo

The tradition continued as Nike-designed "too short, too loose" dresses weren't a favorite among the participating brand's endorsers, including 2014 finalist Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, during the 2016 Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, Serena's sister Venus came under fire from a few journalists for wearing a pink bra under her white dress before changing it as she returned to the court following a rain delay at Wimbledon in 2017. Her straightforward on-the-face response at the post-match press conference was "I don't like talking about bras in press conferences. It's weird."