Madrid Open ball girls scrap mini skirts for capris in Carlos Alcaraz vs Struff final after backlash

The 2023 Madrid Open men’s singles final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jan-Lennard Struff saw the organizers make an apparent effort to reverse the damage caused by their controversial choice of crew and attire.

During the final on Sunday, the ball girls were seen wearing navy-blue outfits, which included loose-fitted capris and sleeveless crop tops. The change was allegedly made after the Madrid Open organizers noticed the public outrage caused by their choice of assistants.

The Masters 1000 event has come under fire for the reintroduction of female models, and black crop tops and pastel mint mini skirts as their official outfit, at the Manolo Santana stadium.

It is worth noting that, in the WTA matches, adult male assistants were brought in but were made to adhere to the normal dress code. The organizers and tournament director Feliciano Lopez were, therefore, accused by many of misogyny.

While the issue was brought to the forefront this year due to the outfit choice, this isn’t the first time that the Madrid Open has opted for models. The tournament has a long history of calling in models for the job of ball kids, which is ideally assigned to young, aspiring tennis juniors.

The controversial change was first made in 2004, and has been in effect ever since.

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A brief look at the other Madrid Open 2023 controversies

Carlos Alcaraz celebrates his birthday with a giant cake at the 2023 Madrid Open

The use of ball 'models' isn’t the only controversy the 2023 Madrid Open organizers are embroiled in. World No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who finished as the runner-up, called out the management for making her play matches past 1 am.

The tournament also received flak from the tennis world for the alleged misogyny and favoritism involving their local sensation, Carlos Alcaraz.

Men’s singles champion Alcaraz celebrated his 20th birthday on May 5 with a win in the semifinal. He was presented with a grand two-tier cake on the court after his victory. Meanwhile, the organizers made a seemingly half-hearted gesture by presenting women’s singles champion Aryna Sabalenka with a much smaller cake, as she celebrated her 25th birthday on the same day.

The controversy surrounding the alleged misogyny boiled over when the organizers reportedly denied the women’s doubles winning team of Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia, as well as the runner-up team of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, the right to a speech during the trophy ceremony.

It is worth noting that the men’s doubles finale concluded with the winning pair of Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov addressing the crowd.

An official statement is yet to be released about the surprising differences in the two finals.

Retired tennis player Daniela Hantuchova later leveled yet another accusation at the tournament. She claimed that the management increased Carlos Alcaraz’s chances of defending his title by watering the courts for longer to tend to his preference for slower surfaces.