Wimbledon has now confirmed a rule change to allow female competitors to wear dark-coloured underwear.
Judy Murray was among the protestors to call on the All-England Club to relax their rule on women having to wear white underwear, to help ease anxiety fears female competitors can face while playing during their menstrual cycles.
Now Chief executive Sally Bolton has made the rule change official in her latest statement.
“We are committed to supporting the players and listening to their feedback as to how they can perform at their best,” he said. “I’m pleased to confirm that, following consultation with players and representatives of several stakeholder groups, the Committee of Management has taken the decision to update the white clothing rule at Wimbledon.
“This means that, from next year, women and girls competing at The Championships will have the option of wearing coloured undershorts if they choose. It is our hope that this rule adjustment will help players focus purely on their performance by relieving a potential source of anxiety.”
Calls for the rule exchange began during last year’s Wimbledon, where 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 women's menstrual cycles in consideration.
During an interview with the Daily Mail ahead of the Billie Jean King Cup finals, Judy Murray said on the matter: "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.”
