Bianca Andreescu must have angered her clothing sponsor Nike, as her first-round victory at the 2022 US Open made the news not because of her successful match but because of her negative comments about her tennis dress.
“It’s not my fault, it’s Nike’s fault, this dress is so … so bad.”
Missed this from the start of the Andreescu match. I think the dress was moving so much in the wind Andreescu changed it after the warm-up.
Going to be some awkward phone calls with Nike reps, I imagine. https://t.co/alv1xbYj9o
— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) August 29, 2022
During the warm-up before her match against France’s Harmony Tan, Andreescu’s Nike dress was bothering her on some forehands, it was coming up in windy conditions, and the frustrated 2019 US Open champion told the chair umpire:
It’s not my fault, it’s Nike’s fault. This dress is so bad.
Before going to change into another outfit from the Nike New York collection, the Canadian said: “I need to go, this is really bad.” Upon return, Andreescu wore the Nike Fall New York Slam Tank and Short and proceeded to win the match in three sets. Her tennis shoes remained the new colorway of the Nike Air Zoom Vapor Pro.
At the post-match press conference, Andreescu apologized to her apparel sponsor:
I meant no disrespect with what I said to the umpire. I was trying to convince to not take away that washroom brake, cause I know we only get two. He was very nice to say that it’s totally OK. I could’ve definitely used a different choice of wording, so I apologize to anyone I disrespected. I love Nike and I hope I can be with them for the rest of my life.
Good for Bibi. I am seeing the same dress on Xinyu Wang against Fruhvirtova today. It DOES look very uncomfortable.
Jim, the funny thing is that later in the interview when asked whether she changed from a Nike dress to another Nike outfit, she said something like: “Of course, I had no choice”. But then she realized how bad it sounded, so she tried to make it sound better by adding that she hopes she’ll wear Nike for the rest of her career.
Which was the dress that she didn’t like?
CLT, this one: https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Nike_Womens_Fall_New_York_Slam_Dress/descpageWANIKE-NIWNSDR.html?from=wtb
Bianca always says what she thinks. And critics must be accepted by anyone, including Nike. And she even apologized publicly. Maybe unnecessarily. Bianca is a great girl. True, sincere, good soul.