Venus Williams Just Broke This Huge Wimbledon Rule

And it’s not what we would have expected

Yesterday marked the first day of Wimbledon 2017, with this year’s championship set to be an exciting two weeks.

The Monday saw Andy Murray dominate, beating his opponent Bublik in straight sets, with Nadal and Tsonga also coming out triumphant.

And in terms of the Ladies Singles, the first round saw British number one Johanna Konta beat Hsieh, and Venus Williams advance past Mertens.

Despite Venus beating her opponent in straight sets, it seems the world was more concerned with the 37-year-old’s wardrobe choices, with the six time Wimbledon winner appearing to break a historic Wimbledon rule.

The championship’s ‘all white’ rule is time old, with the All England Lawn Tennis Club insisting that players must wear a solely white outfit, going on to state that ‘any undergarments that either are or can be visible during play (including due to perspiration) must also be completely white except for a single trim of colour no wider than one centimetre (10mm).’

Venus however seemed to neglect this rule on her first round match, sporting a bright pink bra, with the straps clearly visible.

During a rain break in her second set however, Venus changed out of her pink bra, leading people to believe that she had been asked to remove the coloured item.

This is not the first time that a tennis player has been reprimanded for their outfit choices. Canadian player Eugenie Bouchard got in trouble for having a black bra on show a few years back and Russian player Anna Kournikova was asked to remove her black shorts in a past Wimbledon game, forced to play in her coach’s shorts instead.

When asked in her post-match press conference about the colour of her bra and whether she had been asked to change it in the rain break, Venus gave the best response, stating, ‘Yeah, so I don’t want to talk about undergarments. It’s kind of awkward for me. I’ll leave that to you. You can talk about it with your friends. I’m going to pass.’

Game - Miss Williams.

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. After working at Marie Claire UK for seven years - rising from intern to Features Editor - she is now a freelance contributor to the News and Features section.

In 2021, Jenny was named as a winner on the PPA's '30 under 30' list, and was also listed as a rising star in journalism.