Wimbledon sends players reminders of strict all-white dress code

Players preparing to play at Wimbledon have been sent reminders they must adhere to the strict all-white dress code.

Rafael Nadal in his all-whites at last year’s Wimbledon tournament at the All England Club.

Players preparing to play at Wimbledon next week have been sent reminders that they must adhere to the strict all-white dress code.

The All England Club has tightened its regulations in recent years and 12 months ago Aust­ralian Nick Kyrgios was ordered to turn a headband inside out despite wearing an official Wimbledon one with a green and purple stripe.

That incident followed Canadian Eugenie Bouchard causing a discussion between officials after the black strap of her sports bra became visible, although no action was taken. Even off-white or cream is deemed to be unacceptable, and the tournament’s rules state that underwear, skirts, shorts and headbands can have only a thin trim of colour, not more than a centimetre wide.

There have been other incidents when the dress code has caused controversy at recent tournaments — two years ago former champion Pat Cash pulled out of the veterans competition after his shoes were deemed to have breached the rules. Roger Federer, the seven-times men’s singles champion and a member of the All England Club, said last year he believed that the rules were “quite extreme”, adding that he favoured some flexibility.

However, not all resent the strict rules. Kyrgios said he had no problem with being asked to reverse his band, adding: “I like the dress code here.”

Another area of controversy this year may involve the heat. If temperatures soar to last year’s figures then there may be a discrepancy in when women and men can have heat breaks.

The playing rules are set by the tour organisers rather than Wimbledon, and the WTA allows women 10 minutes to cool down between the second and third sets when the heat stress index — which takes into account air temperature, humidity and surface temperature — hits 30.1C or above. The ATP, however, has no equivalent rule for the men.

Meanwhile, Sam Stosur’s grass court campaign got off to a disappointing start less than a week before Wimbledon with the world No 16 losing 6-2 6-1 to Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in the second round of the Eastbourne International.

Stosur, seeded seventh for the traditional final hitout before the third grand slam of the year, hadn’t played since her French Open semi-final defeat to Garbine Mugurunza on June 3.

Former world No 1 Wozniacki is on the comeback trail following an ankle injury that forced her out of Roland Garros but was playing in her third grass court event in as many weeks.

Fifth-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova insists her confidence is “pretty good” despite recent poor results as she advanced to the third round. Dual Wimbledon champion Kvitova, who has reached just one semi-final this year, beat Timea Babos of Hungary 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

The Times, AP