While women rarely change clothes on court during professional tennis matches, men switch shirts all the time, usually during changeovers — often to catcalls from the crowd. On Tuesday, 13-time major champion Novak Djokovic sat without a shirt on throughout a changeover as he tried to cool off.
The 10-minute break during which Cornet's wardrobe malfunction occurred is part of the WTA's rule governing excessive heat and humidity: Women can have that respite before the third set of a match played in tough conditions.
The men have no such rule. So the USTA instituted one Tuesday, when it felt like more than 100 degrees (40 Celsius) on court, offering them a 10-minute break before a match headed to a fourth set.
The US Tennis Association has acknowledged that a chair umpire incorrectly warned French player Alize Cornet for changing her shirt on court at the US Open - the latest example in recent days of ways in which men and women are treated differently in tennis.Off court during a 10-minute indoor break because of excessive heat during Tuesday's first-round match, Cornet changed out of her sweat-soaked outfit.
She rushed to get dressed before play resumed, she said, and put her top on backward, but didn't realize there was a problem until her boyfriend pointed it out. That's when, standing behind a baseline, Cornet pulled off her shirt and put it back on the right way.
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