At Wimbledon, the dress code is violated every year. Even Federer is against the rules
In the main match of the second round of Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrios met. Even before the game, Roger admitted: Kyrios is the last person with whom he would like to intersect not only on the court but also in life.
Many people dislike the Australian in general, primarily for his defiant behaviour and constant provocations on the court. Playing against Rafa, Nick remained true to himself: he often shouted at the referee, accused him of bias and even shoved a tennis ball at an opponent right during one of the rallies.
“Why should I apologize? – Kyrios was surprised at a press conference after his defeat. – How many Helmets does the dude have? How much money is in the accounts? I think he can survive the blow to the chest. I will not apologize to him. I was aiming at him; I wanted to hit right in the chest. “
But one provocation by Kyrios will appeal to most of the tour participants. After losing the match, Nick, first of all, changed his shoes: he took off his white sneakers and put on the coloured ones, which, according to the rules, have no place on the Wimbledon courts. This rule infuriates almost everyone.
The white dress code has been in effect at Wimbledon since 1877. In the mid-90s, he was brought to the point of absurdity. And if Bjorn Borg or Boris Becker could still afford some liberty, now they are fined even for minor violations.
Firms dressing players submit their uniforms in advance to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for approval. And before each specific match, the referee must make sure that the tennis player is entirely in white – from cap to shorts. A necessary clarification: white means boiling white. Almost white or cream is no longer suitable (the tone may differ slightly only in the form of a strip no wider than one centimetre around the neck, on the cuffs of the sleeves, on the bottom seam of a T-shirt, shorts or skirt).
The only exception is for a sports brand logo. It can be coloured, but only if it is not too conspicuous.
“All these rules are needed to confuse the players. Any rules, especially meaningless ones, infuriate me. Why should I wear white? In general, why would anyone care what I am wearing?”
Andre Agassi decided when he first played on the courts of the All England Club
“I feel insulted here – I am constrained continuously and coerced. Maybe I’m not needed here? I’d rather embrace my father again than fall into the arms of Wimbledon. “
His return in ’91 could have been a nightmare for the organizers. Acid bicycles and denim mini shorts were by then an integral part of Agassi’s style. But for the sake of Wimbledon, Andre still made an exception – he played without a single comment and made it to the quarterfinals. And a year later, he finally won his first Helmet to hold the traditional Ball of Champions in the company of Stefi Graf, the main love of his life.
The primary victim of the Wimbledon dress code is Roger Federer. In 2013, he came out to play in sneakers with a bright orange sole. After the first match, the organizers asked Roger to change his shoes.
The new pair of shoes turned out to be unlucky – the seven-time (at that time) Wimbledon champion was eliminated in the second round. Then only the lazy one was not joking that it was not worth taking away the sneakers from Federer. Roger himself was very brief:
“The new rules are too strict, almost everyone can be caught in violation.”
Representatives of Nike (the company was the official outfitter of Federer) also did not ignore the situation, posting a promo image on their Twitter: one-match wonder. The name ultimately stuck with this sneaker model.
Of the apparent quibbles – Eugenie Bouchard’s black shoulder strap, which peeked out from under a dress during one of the draws in 2015, and Venus Williams’ pink straps. Their spectators and judges recorded in 2017. The tennis player was forced to change clothes right during the half-time match.