She returned with her shirt on the wrong way around and quickly removed the top to put it on correctly – a decision that the umpire took umbrage with. Tennis official Christian Rask issued Cornet with an unsportsmanlike penalty for the incident, which sparked a frenzy online.

After she was defeated in three straight sets by Johanna Larsson, Cornet woke up the next morning to a surprising amount of support in her corner, as public figures took to social media to share their anger at the decision.

Former tennis star Annabel Croft wrote: “Utterly ridiculous!!! Not offensive in any way and where’s common sense in that decision?” While Judy Murray, former captain of Great Britain’s female Fed Cup team and mother of Andy and Jamie Murray, said: “Alize Cornet came back to court after 10 minute heat break.

“Had her fresh shirt on back to front. Changed at back of court. Got a code violation. Unsportsmanlike conduct… But the men can change shirts on court.”

The United States Tennis Association (UTSA) were forced to condemn Rask’s snap decision, also making an effort to clarify the rules associated with removing clothing on the court.

The statement read: “Players who do change their shirts will not be assessed a code violation. We regret that Ms. Cornet was assessed a code violation. However, luckily, she was assessed a warning only and there was no further penalty above a warning.”

The organisation then noted that all players are allowed to change their shirts on open court, but only “when sitting in the player chair” – and not anywhere else. As a result of this, Cornet avoided further punishment and didn’t receive a fine.

The USTA added: “When possible, if a more private location is near a court and is requested, that player will be allowed to go to that private location to change, and they will not be assessed a bathroom break. We follow WTA proceedures regarding bathroom breaks. A quick change of attire will not considered one of their two bathroom breaks.”

Once the dust settled, Cornet admitted she was “surprised” by the violation and the attention it received. The Frenchwoman said: “I was surprised when I just changed T-shirt really quick and he gave me the code violation, I didn’t expect it, and I told him it was pretty weird. I think it’s very fair from them to apologise to me. I really appreciate it.”

Cornet added: “The women are treated a little bit differently, (but) I think it gets much better, especially in the tennis. I want to be clear about it and I didn’t take it that bad. I was just maybe disturbed for 10 seconds and that was it.”