Tennis legend Billie Jean Kings wants Wimbledon to scrap one of its sacrosanct traditions. “It drives me nuts,” she told telegraph.co.uk in an interview. The predominantly white costumes. Her concerns are more spectator-oriented. “There’s a match that comes on, you sit down, and you look – let’s say it’s television – who’s who?” she asks.
“Tennis people say: ‘Well, the mark is next to their name’ [to indicate who is serving]. I shouldn’t have to look at a mark, I shouldn’t have to look at anything. I should know [who’s who]. My sport drives me nuts,” she says,
A winner of 20 titles (singles and doubles) at the SW19, she says: “You can change traditions. But they shouldn’t have the same uniforms on. They both have white on.” She suggests assigning numbers on the the back of shirts and kits. “I’d have merch with their names on the back so they’d make money, the tournament makes money, everybody makes money. We’re losing out on millions and millions because of that. Numbers are really important! Kids love numbers and they can retire numbers – like a Federer. It’s so obvious. Take what other sports are doing and what people like from other sports,” she says.
There was no restriction on the colours that could be worn in the first inaugural edition in 1877, only that the rules stated that white was preferred. For nearly a century it remained thus before Wimbledon’s entry conditions were changed to state that players must wear “predominantly white” clothing throughout the tournament in 1963. In 2014, a 10-part decree was introduced in the competitors’ guide stating that “white does not include off-white or cream” and allowing only “a single trim of color no wider than one centimetre.” The almost-all-white rule now covers caps, headbands, bandannas, wristbands, shoes and even “undergarments that either are or can be visible during play.” “White, white, full-on white. I think it’s very strict. My personal opinion: I think it’s too strict. If you look at the pictures of Edberg, Becker, there were some colours,” Roger Federer would express his dissent. He had once come wearing orange socks and white shoes. The chair umpire sniggered at the colour combination and remarked that the socks were too bright.
However, the clutch of orthodoxy has not prevented tennis from flaunting an imaginative wardrobe. King herself wore robes with elaborated blue and pink embroidery, a colour combination she picked up in an art class at school. Last edition, Coco Gauff wore a custom-made, cut-out dress. “I mean, honestly, at Wimbledon there’s not too much you can do in the colour department. We just tried to do something different with the cut of the dress. I like to wear crop tops a lot. That cut is kind of supposed to be like a crop top, [in] an elegant Wimbledon-type way,” she said.
Naomi Osaka, returning from the birth of her first child, wore a two-piece, featuring asymmetric ruffles and a pleated skirt. The Wimbledon website described it as “an elaborate outfit that wouldn’t have looked out of place at the Met Gala”. Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk came draped in a white sleeveless, V-neck outfit, inspired by her wedding gown. Serena Williams’s trench-coat was quite a rage since she wore it for the first time in 2008. She once wore an off-white dress with red trim and bright red undershorts, which she said was an ode to strawberries and cream, Wimbledon’s traditional snack.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
