NEW YORK — Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu apologized to her sponsor Nike for an on-court outburst after her choice of wardrobe for Monday’s first-round match put her in a nuisance in windy conditions.
Andreescu was out on the grandstand court to play Harmony Tan, but the winds in the open arena kept blowing her skirt and affecting her shots, forcing the 22-year-old to approach the umpire from the chair and ask for an extra bathroom break to change.
“Won’t that count as one of my changes? I mean it’s not my fault, it’s Nike’s fault,” he told the referee.
“This dress is so, so bad… I need to go (change), this is so bad.”
Andreescu came back in a white T-shirt and Nike skirt to defeat Tan 6-0 3-6 6-1.
“It was just bothering me on some forehand shots. It just felt like it was pointing a little bit. Obviously the wind didn’t help,” he told reporters.
“But I didn’t mean to be disrespectful with what I said to the ref. I was trying to get him not to take that toilet break because I know we only have two. He was very kind to say it was totally fine.
“Definitely could have used a different wording option. So I apologize to anyone I disrespected. I love Nike and hope to be with them for the rest of my life!”
Andreescu will next play Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bangalore; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)