It is worth noting that defending champion Elena Rybakina expressed her opinion on the underwear regulation change that is in place at the ongoing 2023 Wimbledon tournament after playing in darker shorts.
Recall that for many years there has been a strict enforcement of all-white rule for the tennis tournament. It’s become part of the tradition and something that distinguishes this event from the other events including the other three Grand Slams.
Suffice to mention that the guideline was strictly enforced as nothing from caps to underwear could be anything but white. For many tennis women players, it created a lot of uneasiness as they might ‘show’ if they were on their period.
However, after years of campaigning, Wimbledon finally elected to change the rule allowing players to wear coloured underwear which we’ve seen many players do this year, tennis-infinity.com reports.
Longtime WTA Council member, Victoria Azarenka, praised the move calling it an important step. It’s part of generally relaxing the rules a bit as Jannik Sinner brought a coloured Gucci bag onto the Centre Court on Monday though he cleared it with organizers first.
Something like that wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago. When it comes to the underwear rule.
Interestingly, defending champion Rybakina gave her verdict after sporting dark shorts in her first-round win over Shelby Rogers.
“I think it’s good to have an option. But the same time I was also fine with all white. I mean, it’s just I think changes are good, and we still have the same tradition to be in full white. It’s just maybe little adjustment. Overall I think it’s good, yeah, ” Shelby said.
In agreement to the new rule, fellow player Coco Gauff expressed a lot of relief after the rule change. Daria Kasatkina was of a similar opinion as she explained that players can now focus on their tennis only as opposed to worrying additionally about other factors.
They all highlighted that the event was able to keep the all-white rule in place which has become something many players like, also stating that it gives the event a certain favour as it is undeniably the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.
