Serena Williams: Tennis star banned from wearing her catfish outfit at French Open

At the French Open this year, the 36-year-old revealed that the outfit made her feel like a superhero.

Tennis star Serena Williams has been banned from wearing her catfish outfit for the 2019 French Open, the President of French Federation has said.

Serena caught the eye with a black, figure-hugging outfit with a pink band around the waist at the 2018 French Open.

The tennis star wore the outfit partly for medical reasons after a history of blood clots, especially during her pregnancy last year.

But Bernard Giudicelli, who is the President of the French Federation said the outfit had gone ‘too far’.

“Serena's outfit, for example, would no longer be accepted,” Giudicelli told France's Tennis Magazine.

“We are going to ask manufacturers to let us know what is coming. You have to accept the game and the place.”

Superpowers

Serena has not reacted to the decision although her clothing sponsors Nike took to Twitter to express their support for her.

“You can take the superhero out of her costume, but you can never take away her superpowers. #justdoit,” Nike tweeted.

 

At the French Open this year, the 36-year-old revealed that the outfit made her feel like a superhero.

Although the outfit was made before the release of the famous Black Panther movie, Serena has been inspired by some characters in the flick.

“We designed it way before the movie, but still it kind of reminds me of that,” she said at that time.

 

“I feel like a warrior in it, from Wakanda (the fictional setting for the film) maybe. I'm always living in a fantasy world. I always wanted to be a superhero, and it's my way of being a superhero.

“It was comfortable. I hadn't tried it on in a long time, over a month. So I was just winging it.

'I've had a lot of problems with my blood clots, I don't know how many I have had in the past 12 months. So it is definitely a little functionality to it. I have been wearing pants, in general, a lot when I play so I can keep the blood circulation going.

“It's a fun suit, but it's also functional so I can play without any problems.”

Serena is making her return to the US Open for the first time since having her daughter Olympia.