Come July, the sporting world is gearing up for the biggest event of the year, the Paris Olympic Games. The mega-event starts in a week and will witness top sporting talent from across the globe take center stage in Paris. Like other sports, tennis will also field a near full-strength field that will sweat it out on the court for podium finishes. With not much time left to kickstart the Games, tennis players have begun their preparation on and off the court.

Earlier today, some Olympic pictures of WTA players went viral on social media. One of the fans shared pictures of the likes of Iga Swiatek, Bianca Andreescu, Angelique Kerber, and Jessica Pegula. However, what caught the eyes of fans was the fact that they looked nearly unrecognizable with bare faces up close to the camera. As a result, fans took to social media to share hilarious reactions on this matter.

Olympic rules state that the photograph of players should not have any expressions or makeup on their faces. It is a bizarre rule that has been in play for years and the pictures of the likes of Swiatek and Andreescu looked unrecognizable. Along with the duo, fans struggled to identify Pegula and Kerber!

Are these pictures of Iga Swiatek and others for real?

Players have to submit their photographs to register themselves for the Olympic Games. However, there are some strict rules and guidelines in place for the type of picture submitted. It should be on a white background and the players must not sport any sort of makeup or expression.

When a fan shared some of these pictures of the likes of Swiatek, Andreescu, and others, they went viral on social media, as many hadn’t seen this side of the players without makeup. One took to Twitter and compared it with a mugshot taken in the prison. The comment read, “Didn’t know they were using mugshots.”

Similarly, some other fans got a feeling that these pictures were taken for other purposes, and when people saw them without makeup photos, it gave them a feeling about the pictures taken of prisoners. One fan was brutally hilarious, saying, “Serial killer or victim of a serial killer? You decide.” While expressing a similar feeling, one made a tennis pun, “They served so hard, they got arrested,” with a brilliant analogy to tennis used.

Pegula co-incidentally has a makeup line of her own and a skincare brand called Ready 24. Born out of a desire to improve skincare, even Kerber teamed up with German goalie Manuel Neuer to release their own skincare products to fight the sun!

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The first of the four pictures shared was of Andreescu, who put on a serious look. However, one fan felt that she ‘ate that up.’ At other events like Grand Slams, players give routine colorful pictures for registration. However, the Olympics is an exception and one Twitter user highlighted the rule, “No make up was allowed while making these photographs as per Olympic committee bylaws, section 45:289.”

Interestingly, out of these four, Iga Swiatek has particularly come under scrutiny from John McEnroe for not applying makeup when accepting her Roland Garros trophy this year. The ATP star in turn was blasted by fans for being rude.

Meanwhile, the Olympic Games are expected to be much more colorful than these pictures were. The onus will be on players like Swiatek and Pegula to light up tennis at the Paris Olympics and make it a memorable event for the sport.