Tennis Announcer Being Called Sexist After Asking Smoke Eugenie Bouchard To "Twirl" After Her Win

MELBOURNE, Australia — Eugenie Bouchard’s jaw dropped a little and her eyes went wide when the male presenter conducting her on-court interview at the Australian Open made an unusual request: “Can you give us a twirl?” “A twirl?” the 20-year-old Canadian asked. “A twirl, like a pirouette, here you go,” coaxed her white-haired interviewer on Margaret Court Arena, urging the Wimbledon runner-up to show the crowd her outfit, a pink skirt and top with bright yellow straps. Somewhat uncomfortably, the No. 7-ranked player twirled. Then she laughed and buried her face in her hands. During her post-match news conference Bouchard spoke first about her dominating 6-0, 6-3 win over Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands in just 54 minutes. Then she addressed the twirl. “It was very unexpected,” said Bouchard, who is known for a steely determination, drive and ambition that propelled her from relative obscurity to stardom last year. She reached the semifinals at last year’s Australian and French Opens and the final at Wimbledon, becoming the first Canadian to appear in a Grand Slam final. “I don’t know, an old guy asking you to twirl. It was funny,” she said. Some called the request by a male presenter sexist. Many on Twitter wondered if a man would be asked to twirl after winning a match. Serena Williams suspects not. “I wouldn’t ask Rafa or Roger to twirl,” Williams said Thursday, referring to Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Williams was asked to twirl, too, by the same presenter a day earlier. “I didn’t really want to twirl because I was just like, you know, I don’t need all the extra attention,” said the No. 1-ranked player who is aiming to win her 19th Grand Slam singles title. She preferred not to enter the debate of whether the request was sexist. “Life is far too short to focus on that,” she said. “Whether I twirl or not, it’s not the end of the world.”

Another day on the planet earth, another day of someone drastically overreacting about something. Another day of feminists crying about sexism.Look I understand that it looks a little weird that this old dude asked the youngest, sexiest tennis player on tour to do a twirl. But he also asked Serena Williams to do that shit too. So, my friends, that aint sexism. Asking Serena to twirl is like asking a dude to twirl. Matter of fact I’d rather watch Federer or Nadal twirl than watch Serena Williams twirl. I’d rather watch Michael Chang come out of retirement and twirl. I’d rather watch Pete Sampras’ eyebrows as he spins around in his short white shorts than watch Serena Williams twirl. So lets not make this into a huge sexism thing.

I mean these chicks clearly care about the fashion side of it. They get decked out in matching outfits and are sponsored head to toe. I dont think its the end of the world to talk about their outfits and put them on display. I dont think there’s anything wrong with being a great female tennis player and showing off your fashion like other females in other industries do. Obviously it turned out weird as shit, dont get me wrong. Clearly made both girls uncomfortable. I just think the insulation here is that this announcer doesnt respect these girls as tennis players because he was remarking on their outfits and thats bullshit. Guy made some harmless convo in a post match interview. You can be a dominant female tennis player and be in a cute tennis outfit at the same time. Doesnt have to be mutually exclusive. Relax.