Serena Williams: Best dressed at the Australian Open?
Everybody at the Australian Open is talking about Serena Williams' tennis dress - from commentators to competitors, they love the neon yellow and pink Nike design.
Williams has famously worn animal prints in the past. This year, she's capturing so much attention for what her dress is lacking: a back. There is a large cut out below her shoulder blades, stretching partially around her hips and down to her waist. Her accessories are simple and strong: a matching neon pink headband, hair tie, and wristband.
Seventh-seed Eugenie Bouchard and two-time Australian Open champ Victoria Azarenka have tweeted about it.
Love Serena's outfit. #AusOpen
— Eugenie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) January 20, 2015
Serena is rocking that outfit! Cut out back #sexy #outfit #ausopen @serenawilliams
— victoria azarenka (@vika7) January 20, 2015
Williams said the dress is designed to send a message about female empowerment.
"Nike did these wonderful green colours and we decided to do something," she said. "This whole year is about the back and strength and women and power. We wanted to look at my back all year, so all year you'll be seeing my back."
One commentator even asked Williams to "twirl" around on court after her first-round win. Williams, 33, obliged.
When Bouchard, 20, won her match, the commentators asked her to twirl, too. She was caught off guard. "A twirl?" she asked, but then went along with it. The twirl soon sparked a debate over whether she should have been asked in the first place.
. @geniebouchard is beautiful, but can we stop making her post game interviews about that? She is an athlete. Show respect.
— Allison Currie (@AlleyDalley) January 21, 2015
A reporter asked Williams her thoughts on the twirl-gate.
"I wouldn't necessarily ask Rafa to twirl or Roger to twirl, but whether it's sexist or not I don't know, I can't answer that," the 18-time grand slam champion said in her press conference.
"I didn't really want to twirl because I was like I don't need all the extra attention. But yeah, it was fine. I don't look and think that deep into it. Life is far too short. We have so many other problems that we should focus on, so whether I twirl or not it's not the end of the world it's just all about being positive and moving forward."
She's looking forward to her next match - and showing off her back for the rest of the season.
"Sometimes I'm a little nervous (wearing her outfits on court)," she said. "But this one I think is really good. It's really trendy and young, but at the same time it also has a great message and it's also really nice."
