This year, Wimbledon organizers lifted the ban on wearing colored, dark or black underwear for tennis players. Appropriate decision, but late.
Due to archaic lore, the tournament has had silly outrageous situations. In recent years, there have been high-profile incidents involving Britain’s Naomi Broady, Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard and Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu.
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Naomi Broady
Wimbledon, which is the oldest Grand Slam tournament and has been held since 1877, is characterized by the strictest regulations, especially regarding the dress code of the participants. If at all tournaments various indulgences were gradually introduced and restrictions were lifted, then in the grassy “Helmet” for a long time everything went in the direction of hardening.
In the Wimbledon rules, the requirement for a “predominantly white” uniform officially appeared in 1963, although it previously operated behind the scenes and was considered the generally accepted norm. In 1995, the wording was changed to the need to wear an “almost all-white uniform”. And in 2014, the dress code requirements were made prohibitively strict.
“Any undergarments that are visible or can be seen during play (including due to sweat) must be completely white, with the exception of a colored border no more than one centimeter (10mm) wide,” the guidelines read. rules. .
From time to time scandalous situations arose, especially in the first tournament after another tightening in 2014. The British Naomi Broady was the first to score, who entered the second round match with Caroline Wozniacki (3: 6, 2: 6) without a bra. absolutely.
Naomi Broady at Wimbledon 2014
Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Cause? The tennis players were forced to return to the locker room and change their underwear if anything other than white was seen on them. Naomi did not have a suitable spare bra, so she had to go without one. The fans loved it. Confessions of love from fans rang out from the stands at Brody. But the situation itself was not normal.
Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams has threatened to lead a rebellion against stricter dress codes by wearing an animal print under her white uniform. However, in the end, the American accepted the change and appeared on the court in white outfits, in the end she even praised the organizers for her originality.
“Sure, it’s boring to play in white all year, but for two weeks it’s quite nice,” Williams said.
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Tennis players mostly did not like innovations. Wimbledon 2014 was remembered for the Broady incident. The following year was not without controversy.
Eugenia Bouchard
Canadian Wimbledon-2014 finalist Eugenie Bouchard in 2015 sensationally rounded off her performances in London in the first round, losing the world’s 117th racket to Chinese Duan Yingying – 6:7, 4:6. Bouchard, seeded No.12 , has been in turmoil, losing 12 of her last 14 matches and falling out of the WTA top 20 at Wimbledon. But that wasn’t her only problem.
Bouchard entered the match with a Chinese woman in a black bra. Why didn’t the judge order him to change her underwear? Eugenie wore a white sports bra over her black bra. Initially, she was not noticeable, but during the game, the black strap of Bouchard’s underwear was still visible.
Eugenia Bouchard at Wimbledon 2015
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
The Wimbledon organizing committee discussed the possibility of fining Bouchard, but in the end the Canadian was not sanctioned. He played a role that Judge Louise Engzell allowed him to enter the court in this outfit, as well as the lack of intent in Eugenie’s actions. Even so, the tennis player did everything possible to hide the black color in her underwear.
“I didn’t know at all that I was breaking something. Nobody told me anything about my bra,” Bouchard said.
Michaela Buzernescu
The last high-profile case occurred at Wimbledon 2022. The Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu was forced to change her bra before the first round match with the German Nastassja Schunk (6:4, 6:2), because she did not comply with the rules of the tournament.
Match observers noticed the “illegal” underwear and told Buzarnescu that he needed to change.
Mihaela Buzernescu at Wimbledon 2022
Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
“My bra was dark. I had to change it. The white dress that I wore was too transparent, you could see everything underneath. She borrowed another bra from his trainer. It’s good that we were able to do this, ”Buzarnescu explained after the game.
The Buzarnescu incident sparked a fierce controversy on social media. According to official Wimbledon accounts, most tennis fans were stumped and urged organizers to loosen control of the dress code.
“Is it the standard of decency to draw attention to a woman’s bra on Center Court at Wimbledon in front of thousands of people?”
“It looked really bad!”
“Why was Buzarnescu forced to do this? Were you standing there watching her change her clothes?!” the fans wrote.
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Although there were those who demanded respect for the traditions and history of the tournament, they were fewer. In the end, common sense prevailed. Shortly after Wimbledon 2022, organizers began discussing easing the dress code for tennis players, and in November last year they finally approved the legality of colored underwear on court.
This year and beyond, it is no longer possible to imagine ridiculous bra scandals and controversies, as in the case of Naomi Broady, Eugenie Bouchard and Mihaela Buzarnescu.
