Caroline Wozniacki has outraged some tennis fans by imitating Serena Williams – stuffing her tank and tennis skirt with towels for a voluptuous look on the court.
While the 22-year-old tennis pro received laughs from attendees at the match in Sao Paolo against Maria Sharapova (who defeated her), some critics have interpreted the impersonation as racist.
Katie Halper, a blogger for Feministing.com, wrote Monday: "When a white woman makes fun of a black woman’s body, especially in a way that hypersexualizes her and draws on the stereotype of black women’s big butts, it’s racist."
Tennis players like Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic are known to imitate each other during exhibition matches. Djokovic may have even inspired Wozniacki in his November imitation of Williams when he too stuffed towels in his shirt for makeshift breasts. (Djokovic, on the other hand, drew no heat for his impersonation.)
Yahoo! Sports interpreted Wozniacki's impression as "hilarious," adding, "The likeness to Serena, you'll surely agree, is uncanny."
But many bloggers and socially savvy critics think Wozniacki – formerly ranked No. 1 on the WTA Tour – took it too far.
At this point neither Serena or Caroline has commented on the criticism.
What do you think? Was this a light-hearted joke or racism on the court?
More featured stories: