The Madrid Open has come under some heavy criticism this week as accusations of sexism has surfaced.
The tournament has featured some of the biggest profiles in world tennis but is experiencing a PR nightmare as it has drawn the ire of The Association for Women in Professional Sports after dressing ball girls in short skirts and skintight crop tops.
The Open ended on the weekend, with Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka winning the men’s and women’s singles. But the controversy remained thick.
“It’s a feminized way of treating girls versus guys who don’t dress like that,” a spokesperson for the association said to Público (H/T CNN). “In the end, it is a form of sexist violence that is so widespread because people don’t even notice it.
The miniskirts were binned for Sunday’s final on the heels of the reaction but the crop tops remained.
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That wasn’t all, however. Participants in Sunday’s women’s doubles claimed that they were not allowed to speak after the match.
Winners Beatriz Haddad Maia and Victoria Azarenka did not give acceptance speeches. Losers Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff didn’t speak either.
Gauff would take to Twitter to state that she “Wasn’t given the chance to speak after the final today,” along with a sad face.
Azarenka said it was “hard to explain to Leo that mommy isn’t able to say hello to him at the trophy ceremony.”
“I don’t know what century everyone was living in when they made that decision,” Pegula said, per the BBC. “Or how they had a conversation and decided, ‘Wow, this is a great decision and there’s going to be no-backlash against this.’
“I’ve never heard in my life we wouldn’t be able to speak. It was really disappointing. In a $10,000 [lower level] final you would speak.
“It spoke for itself. We were upset when it happened and told during the trophy ceremony we weren’t able to speak. It kind of proved a point.”
Last year’s winner and current World No. 7 branded the decision “sad and unacceptable” while Rennae Stubbs, a former grand slam doubles champion called it a “disgrace.”
