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Serena Williams not a fan of Australian Open twirling tradition

By Phil Watson

Sep 7, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Serena Williams (USA) celebrates with the championship trophy after the match against Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) in the women's singles final of the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 7, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Serena Williams (USA) celebrates with the championship trophy after the match against Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) in the women's singles final of the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports /
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Serena Williams, the No. 1 player in women’s tennis, was asked about a controversy at the Australian Open when she talked about the tradition of twirling at the event.

Serena Williams is right, you know.

When the top-ranked player in the world said this week that the top men’s players in the world wouldn’t be asked to twirl and show off their outfits by on-court interviewers this week, she was absolutely right.

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A controversy of sorts erupted, with charges of sexism being hurled after Williams and Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard were asked to spin around and show off their outfits during on-court interviews in Melbourne.

“A commentator asked me to twirl,” Williams told The Guardian. “I wouldn’t ask [Rafael Nadal] or Roger [Federer] to twirl. Whether it’s sexist or not, I don’t know. I can’t answer that.”

Bouchard said the question after her straight-sets win over Kiki Bertens caught her off-guard.

“It was very unexpected,” Bouchard said. “I mean, yeah, I don’t know. An old guy asking you to twirl, it was funny.”

Williams said she never enjoyed the experience.

“I didn’t really want to twirl because I was just like, you know, I don’t need all the extra attention,” Williams said. “But, yeah, it was fine.

“I don’t think and look that deep into it. Life is far too short to focus on that. We have so many other problems we want to deal with that we should focus on. Whether I twirl or not, it’s not the end of the world. It’s about being positive and just moving forward.”

Bouchard has begun to tire of the subject a bit.

“I’m happy that I’ve played three solid matches here,” Bouchard said, via The Associated Press. “We could definitely be a little bit more focused on that.”

Billie Jean King, long a pioneer in women’s tennis, said on Twitter that the twirling thing is definitely sexist.

Bouchard did say that she’s fine with twirling, so long as the male players offer up something as well.

Sep 1, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) returns a shot to Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) on day eight of the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 1, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) returns a shot to Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) on day eight of the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /

“I’m fine with being asked to twirl if they ask the guys to flex their muscles,” Bouchard said.

Again, the people claiming the practice is sexist are right. By definition, they are absolutely right.

But at the same time, it’s not at the same level as gender inequity in earnings and the advocates for gender equality to their cause a disservice by behaving as if it is.

One size never fits all, a lesson that can be applied to many situations where outrage can begin to run amok in proportion with the event that spurred the outrage.

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