Caroline Wozniacki uses extra ‘padding’ to imitate Serena Williams
theGRIO REPORT - Yesterday professional tennis player Caroline Wozniacki decided to imitate Serena Williams during an exhibition match against her opponent, Maria Sharapova...
Yesterday, former world number one-ranked tennis player Caroline Wozniacki decided to imitate Serena Williams during an exhibition match against her opponent, Maria Sharapova.
Wozniacki bounced around the court mid-game with her shirt and skirt stuffed with padding as the crowd laughed and reacted to her antics.
Reactions from fans and critics have been mixed.
Yahoo! Sports called the impression, “hilarious,” noting, “The likeness to Serena, you’ll surely agree, is uncanny.”
On Tumblr, many bloggers disagreed.
One blogger wrote, “this isn’t “harmless fun” as one article described it. its racist. out and outright racism. its misogynistic. mocking and making fun of the bodies of black women for a laugh? real funny, stupid white girl. real real funny.” [sic]
Another blogger wrote, “So a white woman can do something like this, but Serena Williams can’t crip walk to celebrate a victory? Wozniacki stuffed her bra and underwear so that she could appear like Serena. It may have been done in “jest,” but I love how people can can turn a black woman’s body and sexuality into a caricature. However, we should not have the autonomy to celebrate any successes of our own.”
Andy Roddick, who recently retired from tennis earlier this year, imitated Serena during an exhibition match in Toronto in November.
Men’s tennis top star Novak Djokovic also imitated her earlier this year. (Both Djokovic and Roddick are infamous for their impressions of both male and female tennis stars.)
This isn’t the first time Wozniacki has tried to ‘be like’ Serena using towels and padding.
Serena Williams has yet to react to the situation publicly.
Follow Marquise Francis on Twitter @mKfly
