Ex-pro tennis player Anne White says she knows how Serena Williams feels about the ban on her cat suit at the French Open .. because she went through the exact same thing back in the '80s.
White famously wore a body suit to play in Wimbledon in 1985 -- but was told during the tournament, the suit violated the dress code and she needed to change it or she couldn't continue.
White tells TMZ Sports she felt the whole thing was sexist -- "It's crazy that women can't wear what they want to work.