- Serena Williams' famous "Black Panther"-style catsuit has reportedly been banned from the French Open.
- The outfit was designed to help prevent blood clots, according to The Guardian, but Williams also said it made her feel like a "warrior princess" from Wakanda, the fictional nation from the Marvel Comics film.
- The president of the French Tennis Federation, however, indicated in an interview with France's Tennis Magazine that he was unimpressed.
- Bernard Giudicelli was quoted as saying that the outfit would no longer be accepted because "you have to respect the game and the place."
- Catsuit or no catsuit, Williams is next in action at the US Open next week.
Serena Williams apparently won't able to wear her "Wakanda-inspired catsuit" at future French Open tournaments.
Williams wore the eye-catching outfit at Roland-Garros in May as she made her first Grand Slam appearance since returning to tennis after giving birth to her daughter last year.
The Guardian said the suit's main purpose was to help prevent blood clots. But Williams told the publication it also had the advantage of making her feel "like a warrior princess" from "Black Panther," the smash hit Marvel Comics film released in February.
Williams has not worn the outfit since, and it appears she won't have the opportunity to wear it at the French Open again.
Speaking to France's Tennis Magazine, French Tennis Federation President Bernard Giudicelli implied that her outfit did not show respect for the game or the competition.
In a quote from the interview tweeted by the New York Times sports journalist Christopher Clarey, Giudicelli said: "We are going to ask the manufacturers to let us know what is coming. I believe we have sometimes gone too far.
"Serena's outfit this year, for example, would no longer be accepted. You have to respect the game and the place."
—Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) August 23, 2018
Here's another look at the outfit:
Williams had the outfit designed before "Black Panther" was released, but she said it still reminded her of the Marvel film, she told The Guardian in May.
"I'm always living in a fantasy world," she said. "I always wanted to be a superhero, and it's kind of my way of being a superhero."
Catsuit or no catsuit, Williams is next in action at the US Open, scheduled to begin Monday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
