Serena Williams' Fierce French Open Outfit Is Fit For A 'Goddess'

Lee Moran
Updated

Serena Williams made a real fashion statement with her French Open outfit on Monday, one year after angering organizers by wearing a black catsuit to help prevent postpartum blood clots.

The tennis star wore a cape emblazoned with the French words for “champion,” “queen,” “mother” and “goddess” while warming up on court at Roland Garros in Paris ahead of her first-round victory over Russia’s Vitalia Diatchenko.

(Photo: Jean Catuffe via Getty Images)
(Photo: Jean Catuffe via Getty Images)
(Photo: Jean Catuffe via Getty Images)
(Photo: Jean Catuffe via Getty Images)
(Photo: Jean Catuffe via Getty Images)
(Photo: Jean Catuffe via Getty Images)

She removed the cape for the actual game.

(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Williams had previewed her outfit, which was designed by Virgil Abloh and Nike, on Twitter the day before.

Williams famously wore a black catsuit at the 2018 French Open, her return to Grand Slam tennis after almost dying giving birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia, in 2017.

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(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

“I feel like a warrior in it, like a warrior princess kind of, [a] queen from Wakanda,” Williams said at the time, referring to the box office hit “Black Panther.”

“I’m always living in a fantasy world. I always wanted to be a superhero, and it’s kind of my way of being a superhero,” she added. “I feel like a superhero when I wear it.”

However, the outfit was singled out by French Tennis Federation President Bernard Giudicelli in August when he announced a new dress code for the sporting event.

“It will no longer be accepted,” he reportedly said. “One must respect the game and place.”

Williams wore an Abloh-designed tutu days later in the first round of the U.S. Open:

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Later in the tournament, she followed it up with this lavender tutu:

(Photo: )
(Photo: )

Williams’ latest on-court fashion choice made waves on social media.

Williams chairs the board of advisers for HuffPost’s parent company, Verizon Media.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.