Black underwear first seen at Wimbledon to beat period anxiety

Elena Rybakina in black shorts in the first round match of Wimbledon against Shelby Rodgers. Photo: Getty Images/Clive Brunskill

There was a subtle historic moment on Center Court when defending champion Yelena Rybakina took full advantage of the loose dress code by wearing dark shorts.

Rybakina, who finished third at Wimbledon , bounced back from a shaky start and won their first round robin against Shelby Rodgers 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday. But both Rybakina and her American opponent had one thing in common: they preferred to wear black shorts.

Then, later on the main court, second seeded Arina Sobolenko beat Panna Udvardi 6-3 6-1, and both also went to dark bottoms.

Last November, the All England Club decided to allow women to wear darker undershorts to combat potential menstrual anxiety, and this is the first tournament in which players have been given the new freedom.

“I think it’s good to have an option, but at the same time, everything white suited me,” Rybakina later said. “I think change is good and we have the same tradition of being all white. It's just, maybe a small adjustment. Overall, I think it's good, yes.»

Arina Sobolenko also wore black shorts in the match against Panna Udvardi. Credit: Reuters/Hanna Mackay

On Monday, former world number one Victoria Azarenka was the first to enter the court in dark green shorts under a white dress, along with Czech Linda Fruhvirtova, and said: “I appreciate the off-white rule for girls. I think it was an important step. I think it's very thoughtful.»

The tournament used to be very strict about the traditional all-white dress code, which was invented in the 1800s to keep sweat stains to a minimum.

Former Russian tennis player Tatyana Golovina claimed she accidentally broke the rules by wearing red. shorts in 2007, prompting the club to tighten the rules. Even court king Roger Federer was busted for wearing orange-soled shoes in 2013, and last year's runner-up Nick Kyrgios wore a red cap during the final awards ceremony on Center Court.

The rule change only applies to women's briefs and corresponds to a similar trend in football.

The England team changed their shorts to navy blue for this World Cup after striker Beth Mead said an all-white kit was sometimes impractical at last year's European Championship.

British player Heather Watson, who having previously spoken openly about being nervous about wearing white at Wimbledon, on Sunday she said the rule was «forward-looking» but created new dilemmas.

«When they announced the new rule, I thought it's great,» Watson said. “It's forward thinking, it's so rewarding. And then I thought, damn it, everyone will know when I get my period, but I still talk about it so openly that I probably would have let all of you know without even asking questions!

“ I think consistency is the key to success, so you have to stick to black all the time or something like that. But on the whole, [this] is obviously positive, absolutely. You didn't ask, but I wore black shorts in Eastbourne, so that helped a lot.»