SEXISM BECOMING A TOPIC @ THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN? OF COURSE EUGENIE BOUCHARD’S IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. SOUNDS LIKE A GUSSY MORAN STORY. PLEASE TWIRL?

Written by: Staff on 23rd January 2015

SEXISM BECOMING A TOPIC @ THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN? OF COURSE EUGENIE BOUCHARD'S IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. SOUNDS LIKE A GUSSY MORAN STORY. PLEASE TWIRL?

epa04572620 Eugenie Bouchard of Canada celebrates after beating Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands in their second round match of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament at Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, 21 January 2015. EPA/JOE CASTRO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Corporate protagonists are already playing shift the blame as a “sexism” spat erupted in entertaining fashion at the Australian Open.

The incident springs from an innocent-sounding request for admitted WTA shopaholic and fashionista Genie Bouchard – who wears the eye-catching Maria Sharapova clothing line from Nike – to “give us a twirl” to show off her trendy flower-colored dress during a post-victory on-court interview.

A flustered Bouchard, whose Twitter account can on occasion become a selfie and red carpet photo zone, complied with some embarrassment but managed to ignite the feminist firestorm which is enlivening the opening week of the grand slam event.

Eugenie Bouchard of Canada in action against Caroline Garcia of France during their third round match of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, 23 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/JOE CASTRO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

Now, broadcaster Seven network is claiming the on-court interviewer was employed by Tennis Australia, and not them, though he prominently held up a Seven mic in the post-match chat.

“The interview, which didn’t air on Channel 7 or 7TWO, was in this instance conducted by a commentator who works for the host broadcaster, Tennis Australia,” the Seven network quickly told the Daily Mail website.

With half-hearted sexism charges flying in the media, Bouchard chimed in with her opinion: “It was very unexpected. I mean, yeah, I don’t know. An old guy asking you to twirl, it was funny,” said the seventh seed.

Critics were quick to point out that no male player would be asked anything similar in a post-match interview.

But the same request has been made to Serena Williams, whom fellow competitors admit may have won the fashion stakes during the fortnight with her open-backed lime-pink number.

Serena Williams of the US in action against Vera Zvonareva of Russia in their second round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Filip Singer

“A commentator asked me to twirl. I wouldn’t ask Rafa (Nadal) or Roger (Federer) to twirl. Whether it’s sexist or not, I don’t know. I can’t answer that,” said Williams, the top seed.

“I didn’t really want to twirl because I was just like, you know, I don’t need all the extra attention. But, yeah, it was fine.

“I don’t think and look that deep into it. Life is far too short to focus on that. We have so many other problems we want to deal with that we should focus on. Whether I twirl or not, it’s not the end of the world. It’s about being positive and just moving forward.”

Content via Bob Larson

10sBalls_com Editors Note : in 1949 the photographers and reporters at the Hurlingham club in London asked Gussy Moran to ” twirl ” … She TWIRLED and her skirt went up and the world saw a bit of lace on her knickers ( panties ). Within days of the start of the 1949 Wimbledon Gussy was the talk of the world before she hit her first ball.

Topics: Australian Open, Genie Bouchard, Gussy Moran, Maria Sharapova, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

January 23, 2015 at 11:43 am

SEXISM BECOMING A TOPIC @ THE #AusOpen? OF COURSE @geniebouchard’s IN THE MIDDLE OF IT… http://t.co/qcP5JMjwEJ #tennis #GenieArmy #AO15
10sBalls_com says:

January 23, 2015 at 4:43 pm

#SEXISM BECOMING A TOPIC @ THE #AustralianOpen? OF COURSE @geniebouchard’s IN THE MIDDLE OF IT- http://t.co/qcP5JMjwEJ #twirlgate #GenieArmy
dusanVemic says:

January 23, 2015 at 9:12 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: #SEXISM BECOMING A TOPIC @ THE #AustralianOpen? OF COURSE @geniebouchard’s IN THE MIDDLE OF IT- http://t.co/qcP5JMjwEJ #t…