The American tennis player Bethanie Mattek-Sands has criticised Wimbledon’s rigid enforcement of its rules on players wearing only white clothing, saying the tournament has gone too far in forbidding even the smallest glimpse of coloured clothing or trim on players’ kits.
Mattek-Sands, who frequently dyes her hair in a range of colours and has a prominent coloured tattoo on one arm, said the tournament had “gotten a little excessive” in its obsession with white, having tightened its rules last year to ban anything more than a 1cm coloured trim – even ruling out coloured underwear worn under white garments.
Earlier this week, Eugenie Bouchard narrowly avoided censure by the All England Club when an umpire spotted a thin black bra strap – barely visible under another white bra top and her white tennis dress – while she was playing on court. The tournament decided not to take any action in that case.
Wimbledon has always insisted that players’ kits were “almost entirely white”, allowing a little leniency for some of the coloured knickers, headbands or other accessories worn by players in the past. But the rules were tightened last year to ban anything other than a 1cm coloured trim around necklines or cuffs.
“I was actually Googling some players like when John McEnroe played, Arthur Ashe – they had colour everywhere,” said the American. “They had colour on their sleeves, big stripes, they were coming out in colour jackets. So I feel it’s actually gotten stricter.”
Speaking before the tournament, Roger Federer said that the tournament’s enforcement of its rules had become “ridiculously strict”. “I love Wimbledon, but they’ve gone too far now,” said the world No 2.
The former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash withdrew from last year’s veterans’ tournament after his shoes fell foul of the rules, which he called “archaic thinking”.
But the Danish player Caroline Wozniacki told reporters she relished the “challenge” of coming up with an interesting outfit for the tournament that was entirely white.
“At the end of the day, it’s Wimbledon, so you go by the rules. If they say it’s all white, it’s all white.
“I think every tennis player enjoys to play with a tiny little bit of colour. In the end of the day, we do that every other week of the year. It’s fun to try to be creative even though you have to wear white.”
