A pair of top-seeded 18-year-old tennis players got into some doubles trouble at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
A pair of 18-year-old tennis players got into some doubles trouble at Wimbledon on Wednesday for wearing underpants that broke the event’s infamous all-white dress code.
The top-seeded team of Zsombor Piros, of Hungary, and Wu Yibing, of China, was forced to change into staff-approved briefs after showing up to a boys’ doubles match with their black underwear visible through their shorts.
The tournament’s strict rules prohibit players from wearing clothing or headgear that contain a single trim of color that’s wider than a centimeter. That includes shoes and their soles, as Roger Federer learned in 2013 when he wore orange-bottomed shoes before being ordered to change them.
Wimbledon’s section on illegal underpants, however, includes a decency clause: “Any undergarments that either are or can be visible during play (including due to perspiration) must also be completely white except for a single trim of colour no wider than one centimetre. In addition, common standards of decency are required at all times.”
Rufus the Hawk has been stealing the show at Wimbledon since 2007
Standards of decency were tested on Thursday by Wimbledon’s own employees, who carried on as panties police for an underwear check of an 18-year-old player standing on the court, according to Yahoo! Sports. The competitor, Austrian Jurij Rodionov, was later checked a second time before heading off to change.
Earlier in this year’s tournament, Venus Williams was also reportedly forced to change her pink sports bra for one that complied with the policy.
