“At Wimbledon, there’s always something that surprises you,” an English friend who goes every year as a spectator told me. True. The most traditional tennis tournament in the world is always the same and always different.
The complex’s flowers bloom on the right day; the grass on the courts is cut to the millimeter; the public, elegant and impeccable; the strawberry with cream in the typical dessert is ripe, on point. At the same time, with each issue there is a new confrontation or controversy. As sport and politics mix, the latter has dominated the headlines on the eve of the event in recent years. In this edition, which starts on Monday (3), a change in the rules will transform the lives of the competitors.
First, the political/sporting part: Russians and Belarusians are back after being banned last year because of the invasion of Ukraine. But they are prohibited from expressing or using symbols that indicate support for the war or regimes of the two countries. It is also valid for spectators and will avoid tight skirts like the one at the Australian Open this year, when Novak Djokovic’s father took pictures with supporters of Vladimir Putin.
Djokovic, by the way, is the favourite. Defending champion, he will try to increase his lead in number of Grand Slam titles in men – he has 23, one more than Rafael Nadal – and equal Roger Federer’s record of eight victories on English grass in singles disputes. On the Serb’s tail, names like the number one in the world, Carlos Alcaraz.
The most significant novelty is for women, since it touches on a great tradition of the tournament: the obligation to compete in an all-white uniform. The rule of etiquette dates back to the 19th century, when sweating was considered inappropriate, and light-colored clothing would better hide the “shame” than colorful ones. The dress code at Wimbledon is strict: she must be white – not cream –; if it has color, a maximum of 1 cm thick on the collar, sleeve, skirt hem, cap or socks.
But, as of this edition, women can wear dark-colored shorts under their uniform, a struggle of athletes from several generations. From the legend Billie Jean King, whose heyday was between the 1960s and 1970s, to young talents like Coco Gauff, 19 years old, tennis players have been warning about how distressing it is to have to wear white during the menstrual period.
Recently, King gave an interview to the American network CNN saying that, for her generation, having to wear white caused anxiety and the panic of “will it stain?”. Gauff said having her period at Wimbledon last year was stressful and that the move was a relief for her and other players. the olympic champion Monica Puig once wrote of the “mental stress of playing in white at Wimbledon, praying I don’t have my period during the two weeks of competition”..
This year, the England women’s football team’s uniform has also changed. The white shorts became blue – a request from the players who felt uncomfortable taking the field when they were menstruating. Imagine being a high-level athlete, staying for hours in a crowded arena, in front of cameras from around the world, and losing focus on sports performance for fear of leaking menstruation? It sounds archaic, but it still happens a lot. Impossible not to sympathize.
It took a while, but finally the tournament that brings together British royalty and sports shows that it is possible to have gender equality while maintaining tradition. Especially for such a noble reason.
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