Wimbledon has a pretty strict dress code, but it seems not everyone received the message. One of the most prestigious sporting events in the world, the annual…
Wimbledon has a pretty strict dress code, but it seems not everyone received the message.
One of the most prestigious sporting events in the world, the annual tennis event brings a mix of royalty, celebrities and tennis-loving punters to the court.
But with prestige also comes a set of very strict rules — especially for athletes taking to the court.
Wearing whites to Wimbledon has been a code for competitors since the 19th century — but over the past few years, officials have come down harder than ever in enforcing the tradition.
During a boys’ doubles match on Wednesday, the uniform officials were out in force, pulling up two teenager players who failed to follow the “almost entirely white” dress code.
During play, 18-year-old Zsombor Piros of Hungary and Yibing Wu of China were questioned by the underwear police when their black jocks could be seen through their white tennis shorts.
According to the dress rules, athletes may only break up their all-white outfits with a colored trim of one centimeter in width.
The dress code, which was revamped in 2014 to add more rules, warned players that even underwear had to comply with the white rule.
So players can forget about having a little fun with colored briefs and bras.
According to The Telegraph, a letter sent to players by tournament referee Andrew Jarrett said: “Undergarments that either are or can be visible during play (including due to perspiration) must also be completely white and contain no more than 1cm of colored trim.”
Piros and Wu were asked by officials to change off court into underwear that complies with the rules.
Handed a new set of white briefs, the boys walked off court and changed out of the black jocks.
Despite the awkwardness, the boys were able to win their match in straight sets.
This isn’ t the first time players have been forced to borrow a pair of briefs during play.
In an interview with 1987 Wimbledon winner Pat Cash, women players have been forced to play without a bra in the past because their garments haven’ t complied with the dress code.
“I believe some of the girls didn’ t have suitable sports bras and had to go without them. It has absolutely gone ridiculous, ” he told the BBC.
“It’s archaic thinking. One of the players was called into the referees’ office because he had blue underwear that showed through when he got sweaty so he was told not to wear dark underwear.”
In 2013, Federer was told he could not wear his orange-soled Nike shoes because they violated the dress code.
Two tournaments later, Australian Nick Kyrgios was forced to turn his headband inside out because it was too colorful.
He said the decision to warn him was “utterly pathetic, ” because the headband was Official Wimbledon merchandise. Go figure.
But not everyone is against the wardrobe rules. Venus Williams said she thought the all-white dress code was “nice.”
I think everyone just kind of glows in white, ” she said during a press conference in 2014.
“Obviously not all year, because anything every day is boring. But during these two weeks, it’s nice.”
The Wimbledon tournament will conclude on Monday, July 16,2017.
