BILLIE JEAN KING has told Wimbledon to change its strict dress code.
The all-white outfits at the Championships date back to the tournament’s first edition, all the way back in 1877.
The all-white outfit rule is synonymous with Wimbledon[/caption]
Paula Badosa and Katie Boulter wore identical kits for their Wimbledon match[/caption]
In 1963, the All England Club officially introduced the law that players must be dressed in predominantly white.
These days, the ruling is very clear that clothes must be white, not off-white or cream, with a maximum 1cm trim of colour.
Roger Federer was given a ticking off by Wimbledon in 2013 when his trainers had orange soles and was told to change his footwear.
Andre Agassi boycotted the tournament for three years over the policy and Nick Kyrgios fell foul of fines for his red cap and trainers on the hallowed turf.
Wimbledon did relax the rules in 2023 to allow women to wear coloured undershorts.
White was chosen for various reasons including keeping cool but also its history of elitism because it showed households had the resources to keep clothes clean.
But King – one of the founders of the WTA Tour and a huge campaigner for women and women’s tennis for decades – is calling for a big shake-up for another reason.
Suggestions have been made for tennis to do more to avoid kit clashes to help fans watching on TV distinguish who is who – similar to ‘home’ and ‘away’ kits in many sports.
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And six-time Wimbledon winner King, 61, told the Daily Telegraph the all-white dress code is a “total mistake”.
She said: “There’s a match that comes on, you sit down, and you look – let’s say it’s television – who’s who?
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“Tennis people say, ‘Well, the mark is next to their name’ [to indicate who is serving].
“I shouldn’t have to look at a mark, I shouldn’t have to look at anything. I should know [who’s who]. My sport drives me nuts.
“They shouldn’t have the same uniforms on. They both have white on. You can change tradition.”
King even suggested tennis should adopt names and numbers to players’ shirts.
Football has had names for many years – and rugby and cricket have followed suit in recent years.
King added: “I’d have merch with their names on the back so they’d make money, the tournament makes money, everybody makes money.”
“We’re losing out on millions and millions because of that. Numbers are really important.
“Kids love numbers and they can retire numbers – like a Federer. It’s so obvious. Take what other sports are doing and what people like from other sports.”
Cricket has adopted names and numbers for players[/caption]
Billie Jean King won six Wimbledon titles at SW19[/caption]
King called for the big change to appeal to the TV viewers[/caption]
