Tennis player Jean-Julien Rojer wore a shirt featuring the Statue of Liberty on the front throughout the U.S. Open as a way to promote "peace and freedom and liberty," according to Steve Tignor of TENNIS.com. Rojer and Horia Tecau won the men's doubles' championship at Flushing Meadows, and Rojer during an on-court interview following the win said, "A friend of mine owns a clothing company and makes these clothes for me to play in. I have Lady Liberty on the front, and on my jackets I have a peace symbol on the back. The idea came after the tragic incident in Charlottesville." He added, "I thought it was a good message. And quite honestly, I liked the clothes and the stuff so I went that route. I mean, you can never say too much stuff for equality and everybody in this country. I think that message needs to be passed on constantly." Rojer, a native of Dutch-controlled Caribbean island Curacao, noted he was not getting many questions about his apparel at the start of the tournament. He said, "Once we made the semifinals, finals, you get a little bit more attention and more press." Rojer said he did not "know how much the tennis world gets into" making political statements. But he said, "I just wanted to have the conversation going and promoting again, just freedom and justice, liberty for everybody on gender issues, on racial issues which we deal a lot with in this country" (TENNIS.com, 9/9).
