Madrid Open takes heat over ball crew outfits among other issues

The Madrid Open is one of the precursors to the French Open later this month, and while most of the tennis world is celebrating Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka’s victories, there were a myriad of controversies along the way.

First, Victoria Azarenka pointed out the differences in the cakes the champions of the tournament received. Alcaraz – who is from Spain – received the giant two-tiered dessert after his win over Jan-Lennard Struff. Sabalenka received a single-tier cake with a few candles and fanfare.

Azarenka agreed with one Twitter user who wrote, “the difference in cake size is astounding.”

However, it was Alcaraz’s birthday on Friday

Additionally, Azarenka and her doubles partner Beatriz Haddad Maia defeated Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the final, but the winners were barred from addressing the crowd after the match. According to USA Today, finalists in the men’s singles and doubles and the women’s singles were given the opportunity to speak to the crowd.

“Wasn’t given the chance to speak after the final today:( But thank you to the fans for supporting us and women’s tennis this week! Thanks @JLPegula for always keeping it fun on the court and hitting unreal clutch shots hahahaha Lastly, big congratulations Vika and Bia,” Gauff tweeted Sunday.

“[A]lso thanks to my team and Jess’s team of course! Also for the ball kids, tournament staff, and everyone else who works hard behind the scenes. Twitter format doesn’t allow me to say everything I would’ve said during the speech if we had one. But just wanted to say I‘m thankful.”

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Pegula added her own opinion to the mix.

“I don’t know what century everyone was living in when they made that decision,” she said Tuesday, via Tennis Majors. “To be honest, it kind of spoke for itself. We were upset when it happened, especially being told during the trophy ceremony we weren’t going to be allowed to speak. We were kind of like, Well, I guess this just kind of proves a point.”

Lastly, the other controversy stemmed from those who were not playing for the trophies.

During the men’s matches, the all-female crew whose job it was to provide the balls to the competitors wore short skirts and crop tops that showed their midriff. After complaints, the ball crew changed their outfits.

Pilar Calvino, a spokesperson for the Spanish Association for Women in Professional Sport, told The Independent the organizers were urged to change the policy around the dress code.

“It’s a way of feminizing girls with respect to boys who don’t dress in the same way,” Calvino said. “Ultimately, it’s a form of sexist violence that is so widespread that people don’t even notice it.”

Madrid Open organizers have not addressed the outcry.