Serena Williams isn't worried about a dress code at the French Open.
Her skin-tight black catsuit won't be welcome, but Williams already had put it back in the closet. She no longer needs a full-length outfit for health reasons and won't be wearing it again at the U.S. Open.
Besides, for someone with Williams' style, going back to the same look would be a fashion faux pas.
"When it comes to fashion, you don't want to be a repeat offender," she said Saturday.
Williams downplayed concerns that were caused last week when the French Tennis Federation president said in Tennis Magazine that the outfit Williams wore this year in Paris would no longer be accepted.
"One must respect the game and the place," Bernard Giudicelli said.
Williams said she had a strong relationship with the federation and had spoken with Giudicelli on Friday.
"I think that obviously the Grand Slams have a right to do what they want to do," she said. "I feel like if and when, or if they know that some things are for health reasons, then there's no way that they wouldn't be OK with it. So I think it's fine."
Williams wasn't just trying to make a fashion statement when she wore the outfit that she called her "Wakanda-inspired catsuit," referring to the fictional nation in the film Black Panther.
The full-length leggings were for health reasons. In what was her first Grand Slam tournament since giving birth to her daughter Sept. 1, they were a precaution after her health scare related to blood clots.
Williams said Saturday she no longer needs to wear them because she found that compression tights also work to keep her blood circulating. She wore tights at Wimbledon, when she made it to the final.
Though Williams shrugged it off, the French Open decision drew strong reaction from inside and outside of tennis. Billie Jean King wrote on Twitter that "the policing of women's bodies must end" while former U.S. star Andy Roddick tweeted that the decision was "so dumb and shortsighted it hurts," adding that "Sometimes it'd be nice if the sport got out of its own way."
Retire to study
NFL tight end Julius Thomas is hanging up his cleats for a doctorate degree.
Thomas is retiring from professional football to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology, the 30-year-old announced in the Players' Tribune on Friday.
Thomas said he will focus his doctorate on "investigating the effects of contact sports on brain trauma and neurobehavioral performance." He also will participate in research to "identify early warning signs of brain disease."
He said he felt particularly called to the study of CTE.
"I knew I wanted to help and knew that this would be a great way to help football players, to be that person who could help them understand what we all are at risk of," he said. "I felt inside that this was stuff I needed to understand."
Thomas wrote that he began to "take stock" of where he was in his life and had "work to do internally" during the course of his football career.
The two-time Pro Bowler had his breakout season in 2013, when he scored 12 touchdowns on 788 receiving yards. But Thomas wrote that he eventually had to "learn to accept that my identity was not my profession," making the decision to study psychology.
SPORTS QUIZ
At what Division I college did Julius Thomas play basketball?
ANSWER
Portland State
Sports on 08/26/2018