Serena Williams’ Doubles Game With Venus Williams Overshadowed By Nipple Shaming Fans At Wimbledon

Wimbledon 2016 gave rise to an unexpected “double” controversy over Serena William’s booty and double nipple exposure. According to Hollywood Life, the “electric tennis player” and doubles finalist with Venus Williams chose an outfit that clearly showed the outline of another kind of doubles. Serena’s double nipples poked through her outfit as she wielded her racket on the Wimbledon court, and some watchers were unhappy with the look.

Williams was on the receiving end of some nasty verbal abuse over the nipple episode, and she was “harshly body shamed” by Wimbledon fans on social media. More than one Wimbledon watcher said that William’s nipples were too distracting during the game and suggested she should cover up her body.

Serena Williams, 34, was paying attention to her winning game at Wimbledon, exactly as she’s supposed to do. Williams didn’t set out to titillate the audience, but it turned out that some people were less concerned about Serena “doing what she does best” while competing at Wimbledon 2016 and way more concerned about how her body looked.

Those folks apparently didn’t like Williams’ simple, “crisp” outfit that “accentuated her awesome figure” and immediately took to social media to voice their opinions. The haters “blasted her with body-shaming tweets” and “slammed” the tennis star on Twitter after noticing that Serena’s nipples were visible through the fabric of her white tennis costume.

Williams performed magnificently at Wimbledon, doing what she was there to do. Her goal was to play the brilliant tennis that got her into the semi-finals after “putting away” Russia’s star player, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Unfortunately, the topic that really set Twitter users’ “newsfeed ablaze” wasn’t Williams’ great achievement. Instead of “celebrating her victory,” Wimbledon followers were busy making Serena’s nipples the main topic of Twitter conversation everywhere. There’s even a hashtag that someone came up with for the sole purpose of body shaming Williams, who is not only a great tennis player but also “the highest paid female athlete.” Twitter abounded with the “#SerenasNipples” hashtag in conjunction with #Wimbledon, just as if Serena’s booty, body, and breasts mattered more than her tennis playing. One Williams supporter pointed out furiously that his favorite player is going for her 22nd Grand Slam, and people should be thinking about something other than Serena’s nipples.

The good news is that Serena, who is also Drake’s sometimes flame, has a lot of “pretty loyal fans” who weren’t going to put up with the defamation of their favorite athlete. Williams’ fans got down to business right away and totally shut down the haters and shamers.

One Twitter user used humor to point out the ridiculousness of the attitude.

The Daily Mail reported that many fans took the time to point out to the body shamers that Serena’s nipples didn’t change how she played. In fact, Williams’ semi-final against Russia’s Elena Vesnina sped by in a “record-breaking” 49 minutes, “the fastest ever defeat in a Wimbledon semi-final,” and that achievement deserves the focus that Serena’s body is getting.

Serena didn’t let any of the negativity get in her way or make her feel bad about her body. According to ESPN, Williams carried on with her job of playing great tennis, and she is now heading for the Wimbledon 2016 finals against No. 4 seed Angelique Kerber. Serena and Venus Williams doubles game hasn’t suffered either, with the two sisters advancing to the doubles semi-finals as a nearly unbeatable doubles team.

What do you think? Is it normal that so many people paid attention to Williams’ body instead of her winning way with a racket? Or should fans watch the game and stop worrying about who’s wearing what?

[Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images]