--- title: Alize Cornet Penalized for Taking Off Shirt at U.S. Open description: French U.S. Open player Alize Cornet got hit with a code violation for taking off her shirt at the U.S. Open. canonical: https://time.com/5381396/alize-cornet-us-open-shirt/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-29T15:00:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:54.379Z og:title: U.S. Open Responds to Backlash After Alizé Cornet Penalty og:description: People called the code violation for the player who changed her shirt sexist og:url: https://time.com/5381396/alize-cornet-us-open-shirt/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. Open Responds to Backlash After Alizé Cornet Penalty twitter:description: People called the code violation for the player who changed her shirt sexist twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # U.S. Open Criticized for 'Sexist' Double Standard After Alizé Cornet Was Penalized for Briefly Taking Her Shirt Off > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7cc92424-b03a-4cd0-89d4-849cffd4f919&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: FIRSTS Serena Williams [Watch (HLS stream): FIRSTS Serena Williams](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qRrT89Xb.m3u8) (2:06)  _Published 2017-09-02. Serena Williams is the FIRST tennis player to win 23 Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era._ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Aug 29, 2018 3:00 PM UTC by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Aug 29, 2018 3:00 PM UTC Alizé Cornet was penalized at the [U.S. Open](http://time.com/5380389/serena-williams-tutu/) for quickly removing her shirt and putting it back on, a move from the Open that critics are calling sexist. The chair umpire Christian Rask hit French player Cornet, who is ranked [No. 31 in the world](https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/45341199), with the code violation, effectively a warning in the sport, during her opening round match against Johanna Larsson on Tuesday. Cornet’s code violation came during a scorcher in Flushing Meadows, Queens, on Tuesday. It was so sweltering at the U.S. that the [heat rule was in effect](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/tennis/2018/08/28/us-open-new-heat-rule-allows-players-10-minute-break/1123268002/), permitting players to take 10-minutes breaks to try to cool off and drink water after their second sets. Cornet was just returning from her 10-minute break when she appeared to realize her shirt was on backwards. And so Cornet, who was wearing a sports bra underneath, took it off to put back on correctly. Cornet was in disbelief and can be heard saying “Violation for what? Really?” in a video of the moment when the umpire stated the violation. > [](https://twitter.com/Frenzzzy/status/1034747813404528640) According to the official [Women’s Tennis Association rulebook](http://wtafiles.wtatennis.com/pdf/publications/2018WTARulebook.pdf), a player is only allowed to change their clothes somewhere off of the court or during the end of a set, or during timeouts related to medical issues. Cornet changed her shirt between the second and third sets. She quickly returned to play the game after receiving the violation. The penalty doesn’t affect the score, and Cornet ultimately lost to Larsson 6-4, 3-6, 2-6. Critics online were quick to call out the punitive action, pointing out that male tennis players frequently take their shirts off to cope with the oppressive heat with no consequences. For instance, Novak Djovovic took his ice bath shirtless to try to cool down during their opening match on Tuesday. > [](https://twitter.com/JudyMurray/status/1034555043838656512) > [](https://twitter.com/DMBergmann70/status/1034786121216090113) > [](https://twitter.com/GamingWelchman/status/1034770810047750147) > [](https://twitter.com/%5Fcmarier/status/1034766697092317184) > [](https://twitter.com/followalexcam/status/1034776356536705024) Five male players were [already forced to pull out](http://time.com/5380134/us-open-2018-felix-auger-aliassime/) of the U.S. Open because of health issues related to the intense heat. The heat won’t break until later in the week, according to [weather reports](https://abc7ny.com/weather/accuweather-alert-oppressive-heat-through-wednesday/4062287/). The WTA commented Wednesday afternoon, calling the violation “unfair,” and “not based on a WTA rule,” adding “Alize did nothing wrong.” > [](https://twitter.com/WTA/status/1034833851959390215) In a statement, the U.S. Open clarified that Cornet did not violate the code when she changed her shirt. --- > “” --- ## Transcript People will look at you and they'll try and define you. Whether you're a woman, whether you're young, they'll try and cabin off what you're able to do. But people can only do that if you let them and so I always viewed my job as defining myself >> If we are in a meeting we're there for a reason, not to just sit there and absorb. If you are only there not speaking you kind of create the impression that you're not prepared to be there. You need to participate and you need to know what you're talking about. You can ask a man to do a job that he's never been qualified to do and he will raise his hand and say, absolutely, I will do that job. Women always say, I'm not sure if I'm ready yet, More experience. I don't necessarily know if there's anything wrong with being more cautious and careful. I mean why have we come to decide that being brash and overly aggressive should be the way we are. But we should also know that we're not going to feel any wiser or any more ready in ten years than we did ten years ago. So we might as well just leave. There is a lot of perception of, My gosh, it's really hard because of the gender. What are you gonna do about that, just not do it? If you want to do something, you just do it, and then hope that people catch up to you. For girls that are going to be playing little league, anything could happen. You could be up by 10 runs, and you can loose the game. So stay focused, make sure you play as a team, and hopefully you hit a home run, because no girl has ever hit a home run, and I'll be cheering for you. You'll never make everyone happy, so you just have to be exactly who it is that you are, and at least know that you've been true to yourself. It's about attitude, aptitude, and opportunity. Who knew I would be here? But it all started with folks that thought I had a good attitude. That put me in places that challenged me and then provided me opportunities because I met and exceeded the standard. You often don't realize, people want you to succeed, and they often have very good solutions, both practical and in terms of thinking of opportunities for you. And the other thing is, I think it's not too bad Periods of great intensity doing one thing or the other. Meryl Streep once said, " Every successful woman's life has its ebbs and flows ." Know your power, know the power of your intellect, of your values and commitment, the courage that you have, and don't let anybody trivialize How you have spent your years. All of them have contributed to making a very unique and special person. Just take joy, don't let anyone discourage you from that thing that you love the most. It's more about making life. 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