Serena downplays catsuit controversy

NEW YORK (AP):

Serena Williams isn't worried about a dress code at the French Open. Her skin-tight black catsuit won't be welcome, but Williams had already put it back in the closet.

She no longer needs a full-length outfit for health reasons and won't be wearing it again at the US Open.

Besides, for someone with Williams' style, going back to the same look would be a fashion faux pas.

"When it comes to fashion, you don't want to be a repeat offender," she said.

Williams downplayed concerns that were caused this week when the French Tennis Federation president said in Tennis Magazine that the outfit Williams wore this year in Paris would no longer be accepted.

"One must respect the game and the place," Bernard Giudicelli said.

Williams said she had a strong relationship with the federation and had spoken with Giudicelli last Friday.

HEALTH REASON

"I think that obviously the Grand Slams have a right to do what they want to do," she said. "I feel like if and when, or if they know that some things are for health reasons, then there's no way that they wouldn't be OK with it. So I think it's fine."

Williams wasn't just trying to make a fashion statement when she wore the outfit.

The full-length leggings were for health reasons. In what was her first Grand Slam tournament since giving birth to her daughter last Sept. 1, they were a precaution after her health scare related to blood clots.

Williams said last Saturday that she no longer needs to wear them because she found that compression tights also work to keep her blood circulating. She wore tights at Wimbledon, when she made it to the final.

Though Williams shrugged it off, the French Open decision drew strong reaction from inside and outside of tennis. Billie Jean King wrote on Twitter that "the policing of women's bodies must end," while former US star Andy Roddick tweeted that the decision was "so dumb and shortsighted it hurts," adding that "Sometimes it'd be nice if the sport got out of its own way."