Serena Williams has always played like a superhuman. Now she looks like one, too.
During her first-round match at Roland Garros in Paris on Tuesday — in which she beat Kristyna Pliskova in two sets — the American tennis champ donned a stark, full-body catsuit, leading many social media users to suggest that the athletic marvel really belongs in a Marvel comic book.
“The catsuit is back and it’s having my queen looking like a superhero!,” NBA vet Jason Collins writes on Twitter.
The Nike sportswear was clearly meant to turn heads. This year’s Roland Garros tournament marks Williams’ return to Grand Slam tennis after giving birth to her daughter last year. Many fans are watching to see if the former world No. 1 can reclaim her former glory.
So she donned an outfit about as different from her opponent’s traditional patterned tennis skirt as you can get — an all-black, stretchy body suit with a red waistband.
Still, Williams, 36, struggled with movement throughout much of the match. Whether that’s due to her “Watch me!” wardrobe or her recent return to the tour after maternity leave is up in the air.
She , “All the moms out there that had a tough pregnancy and have to come back and try to be fierce, in [the] middle of everything. That’s what this represents. You can’t beat a catsuit, right?”
Williams — and hopefully her super-suit — will be back Thursday to play against Australian Ashleigh Barty.