Serena Williams 'Man of the Year' GQ cover sparks controversy for an odd reason

Serena Williams on the cover of GQ magazine [Courtesy]

Serena Williams has been named GQ's Woman of the Year - but the magazine cover has caused controversy.

The tennis legend features on one of four covers of December's issue of the magazine.

Women were made part of GQ's Men of the Year award in 2003 and Williams, 37, is seen sporting a black turtleneck leotard on the cover.

Williams is hailed as 'The Champion' while the Men on Men Of The Year is scribbled out and replaced by "Woman".

The December cover has sparked controversy though with many taking to social media to question the use of quotation marks.

Serena appearing of the cover of GQ magazine has created a heated debate online [Courtesy]

But there is a perfectly good explanation.

The typography was handwritten by designer Virgil Abloh who has worked alongside Williams before.

He helped design her US Open outfit which featured "Serena" on her trainers and "Logo" on her tutu, both in quotations.

GQ research manager Mick Rouse explained the design decision on social media.

Williams revealed earlier this year that she nearly died giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia, who was born in August 2017.

Full Cover [Courtesy]

But months later she returned to the sport as she reached the Wimbledon and US Open finals.

Her controversial loss at Flushing Meadows to Naomi Osaka saw her brand umpire Carlos Ramos a "thief" and accuse him of sexism.

Because it was handwritten by Virgil Abloh of Off-White, who has styled everything in quotation marks as of late (see Serena's US Open apparel that he designed) — Mick Rouse (@mickrouse) November 12, 2018

It quite literally has tags/quotations around it because that’s Virgil’s own style/branding, including in his partnership with Nike and Serena herself. That’s the only “message” behind it. pic.twitter.com/uaGV1DYDhC — Mick Rouse (@mickrouse) November 12, 2018