Friday, August 29, 2014

Danish Player


Earlier this month, Williams was inadvertently drawn into a controversy when former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark imitated her at an exhibition in Brazil.
Wozniacki made fun of Williams' ample build by stuffing towels into her top and skirt.
Video footage went viral. Social media reactions were swift and sometimes ugly. Whoopi Goldberg brought it up on the TV program The View.
Innocent or not, some saw it as racist. How does Williams feel?
In an e-mail, the 15-time major winner said she saw no ill intent from Wozniacki
"I know Caro and I would call her my friend and I don't think she (meant) anything racist by it," she wrote from the island of Mauritius off the coast of Africa, where she is training in preparation for the Australia swing.
Williams has been parodied equally irreverently by the likes of Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic. Some might see that as less offensive, since they don't directly compete across the net.
Others might see it as worse — men performing acts that could be interpreted as both sexist and racist.
Williams herself has poked fun at her physique, calling herself "bootylicious" and referring to her extra "assets."
She and Wozniacki likewise have a history — a friendly one.
The Dane was one of the few players to visit Williams in 2011 following her surgery for a hematoma in her stomach. The two have traded advice on everything from jewelry to boyfriends.

Williams explained that she hadn't seen the widely viewed video clip and didn't understand why it suddenly took on racist tones when others had done it before.
"(Roddick) and (Djokovic) do it all the time and Caro does (it) and now it's racist.??" she wrote.