Cornet censured for changing shirt on court

French star Alizé Cornet took off her shirt after realising she had accidentally put it on back-to-front during a ten minute “extreme heat” break after the second set of her clash with Swede Johanna Larsson in the first round of the Grand Slam at a sweltering Flushing Meadows.

Cornet retired to the shadows at the back of the court and quickly removed and twisted round her top while her back was turned on her opponent.

However Danish umpire Christian Rask immediately issued the 28-year-old with an official warning for “unsportsmanlike behaviour” on the grounds that the action was in breach of the Women’s Tennis Association rule book.

This states that “a player can only change clothes during the end of a set, or during a medical timeout, in an off-court location”. Cornet was not deducted a point as it was a first offence.

The decision triggered a storm of protest on social media outlets led by Andy Murray’s mother Judy who pointed out that top male players such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic regularly change their shirts to reveal their torsos in full view of the crowd. 

They are allowed to if they ask the umpire’s permission and do it while seated at their chairs.