After tennis player Caroline Wozniacki joked about Serena Williams on the court, many fans and onlookers were upset. The Danish athlete stuffed towels into her top and skirt to mock Williams' build and some called the action racist, while Williams herself doesn't seem to mind, as she showed in an email to USA Today.
"I know Caro and I would call her my friend and I don't think she (meant) anything racist by it," she wrote from the island of Mauritius off the coast of Africa, where she is training in preparation for the Australia swing.
Williams has been parodied equally irreverently by the likes of Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic. Some might see that as less offensive, since they don't directly compete across the net.
Others might see it as worse — men performing acts that could be interpreted as both sexist and racist …
"At the end of the day I spend my time focused on things to become better and not bring me down," she continued.
Williams, however, hinted that while she was not personally bothered[,] if others are[,] then Wozniacki might at least be guilty of bad taste.
"I must add if people feel this way she should take reason and do something different next time," she concluded, punctuating her sentence with a smiley emoticon.
Read more at USA Today.