Serena Williams Unfolds ‘Crazy’ Scenes Filled With Self-Doubt Behind Her Donning the Controversial ‘Catsuit’ in 2002

Serena Williams established herself as a fashion icon through tennis, as her outfits always made the news. However, none generated the attention as the catsuit she donned in the 2002 US Open. While she is used to wearing clothes that are often dubbed outrageous, even he was nervous while donning the catsuit for the tournament.

Williams recently appeared in an interview with Bloomberg, where she discussed her tennis and business life. The conversation eventually led to her fashion icon status, and they would be remiss not to talk about her 2002 US Open outfit. Williams revealed, “So that choice was definitely a Puma designer and she was like ‘we want you to do this catsuit’. I was like, ‘Woah, this is crazy, this is so cool’.“

Despite her love for the suit, she doubted her outfit choice. “So the US Open came, and I put it on, and I’m like ‘I’m not doing this’ and I took it off. I was like, ‘I can’t do this, I can’t do this’. So, I had a second outfit in case I didn’t wanna wear the catsuit. Which, if you look in the opener of that year, I think it was 2002, actually wore the second outfit in the second round.“

She threw caution into the air eventually. “But I was like, ‘No, I can’t do that anymore. I need to own this catsuit. I need to own it. So yeah, it was just a really wild experience, but anyway, I took it off, and I’m like, ‘I can’t do this’, and then I’m like, ‘I need to focus on my game and not on my outfit’ as I’m walking out on the court.”

It was a difficult choice for Williams, but also a moment which made her aware of a reality.

Serena Williams realized she was ‘a lone soldier’ as she donned the catsuit

The Queen of the Court had won three grand slams and 5 Masters titles before the 2002 US Open. However, she joked that she became famous due to the outfit she wore in her second title run in the Flushing Meadows. “I always say that’s when I got famous (laughs). It wasn’t the grand slams I had won before. It was the catsuit.”

She further said she showed it to other WTA stars, who firmly suggested she not wear it. The trendsetter still decided to wear it to make a social statement. “I was really different. I was basically a lone soldier. It was just me, and even my sister looked like the typical athlete that just amazing and long and lean, and I was just different.”

Serena Williams will never regret wearing the catsuit in the 2002 US Open. She wore a similar suit in the 2018 French Open, which was eventually banned by the organizers, a decision which created much controversy. Regardless of the reaction, she became an icon due to such moments.