Wimbledon history recalls many incidents involving the dress code. The English championship, as you know, strictly regulates the colors in which athletes can compete – these rules are still closely followed. Anna Kournikova could not hide the violation of her from the tournament management at that time either.
The Russian tennis player was forced to undress during the match.
Russian duel
By 2002, Kournikova had already earned worldwide fame. Behind the 21-year-old athlete were the 1996 Olympics, several singles finals and two victories at the Australian Open in doubles. Anna’s brilliant appearance also helped Anna to become famous – the Russian beauty regularly appeared in clips and on the covers of magazines that included her in the lists of the sexiest girls on the planet.
True, the girl went to Wimbledon without any special expectations: in the WTA rating, according to the results of the last campaign, Anna was not even in the top 50, focusing on duet performances. And in general, the Russian woman never had enough stars on the lawn – her favorite surface was hard.
In the first round of the English championship, Kournikova had to fight with her compatriot Tatyana Panova, who at that time was cited higher – 2002 was overall the best year in the Russian woman’s career. According to expert forecasts, Panov started the fight more confident, but the attention of the spectators at the beginning of the fight was not focused on the game at all.
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forbidden underpants
The fact is that Anna went to court … in black shorts. According to the Wimbledon rules, athletes must perform “predominantly in white”: the rule allows small deviations from the dress code, but large blocks of bright colors are strictly prohibited.
The girl herself later explained her decision by saying that the white skirt did not suit her, but the organizers were not interested in Kournikova’s excuses. At the same time, oddly enough, they noticed the violation of the Russians only after the start of the match. But instead of waiting for a break between sets, the officials decided to end the game unexpectedly in the 15th minute.
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The Russian woman was put in an extremely awkward position, forcing her to change her clothes right in the middle of the match. Anna failed to convince the British: she urgently had to look for a white butt the size of her. In the end, Kournikova was left with no choice but to wear her coach shorts. Of course, they were bad for the girl, especially since she had to cut her logo before; The use of her is also prohibited by the Wimbledon dress code, plus the athlete was limited by her own endorsement contracts.
Not surprisingly, the confused Kournikova ended up losing the first set. Anna managed to take revenge in the next game, but Panova still won the long match – 1: 6, 6: 4, 4: 6. The 21-year-old tennis player left the tournament after the first round; ironically, this blown Wimbledon tie was the last of her career, which the girl completed the following year.
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