There’s a long and storied tradition of people policing women’s tennis players’ outfits. While that usually revolves around their skirts, analyst Jimmy Arias has a problem with a hat.
The former men’s world No. 5 player, whose commentary appears on various cable and streaming channels via a world feed, says that the way current women’s world No. 1 Iga Swiatek wears her hat is bad for the sport.
“From my standpoint, I don’t think she’s been great for women’s tennis,” Arias said on the Inside In podcast. “Because she wears her hat so low that you can’t even see her face or her eyes during a match, so you don’t get a connection as much as you could. I don’t mind her getting angry in some ways, but I want to see her personality.”
The 22-year-old tennis phenom is not only the top player in the world but is coming off a victory in the Poland Open, her fourth title of the season and the 15th of her young career.
From underneath her hat, it looks like she is smiling and showing off plenty of her personality.
Home is where the HEART is ❤️
World No.1 @iga_swiatek secures her fourth title of the season and her first on home soil! #BNPParibasWarsawOpen pic.twitter.com/TziSIkrh79
— wta (@WTA) July 30, 2023
It’s perhaps not a huge thing in the grand scheme of things, but it’s hard not to wonder if Arias would have a similar comment for the many male tennis players who have worn hats at various points over their careers. Their “personalities” seem to come through just fine.
[NY Post]
