Wimbledon organisers are reportedly set to relax their rule on women having to wear white underwear after fears were raised by Judy Murray and protestors.
The All-England Club, according to the Daily Mail , is likely to allow women to wear coloured underwear under their white clothing to help ease anxiety fears female competitors can face while playing during their menstrual cycles. At last year's Wimbledon final, there was a small protest by a group opposing the all-white underwear rules.
The group called 'Address The Dress Code' held placards asking for the rule to take into account women's menstrual cycles. In 2007 Tatiana Golovin accidentally went against the strict dress code by wearing red shorts under her skirt. She later said that she had simply forgotten to change from her warm-up clothing.
Judy, mother of two-time Wimbledon winner Andy Murray, raised her concerns during a female leadership event in Glasgow ahead of this week's Billie Jean King Cup finals.
She said during an interview with the Daily Mail : "I think it’s certainly a much more open talking point, but it would probably need more of the players to speak out openly about the trauma it can cause you, if you are wearing all white and then possibly have a leak while you’re playing. I cannot think of a much more traumatic experience than that.
"When all matches are televised and streamed now, it is something that needs to be considered. It’s one of those things, when something like that becomes a talking point, decisions have to be made on it.
"However, it’s really important, too, that we have lots of women on the decision-making panel, because they understand what that’s like to have menstrual cycles and they understand the fear of that happening while playing."
The All England Lawn Tennis Club has released a statement about the matter. They said: "Prioritising women's health and supporting players based on their individual needs is very important to us, and we are in discussions with the WTA, with manufacturers and with the medical teams about the ways in which we can do that.”
Britain's women received a wildcard place as host nation for this week's Billie Jean King Cup finals which will see 12 nations competing in three-team groups. However, world number one Iga Swiatek will be absent due to the event taking place days after the WTA Finals.
