- Novak Djokovic broke Wimbledon’s golden rule in his opening round game
- The 37-year-old blitzed past Czech, Vit Kopriva 6-1 6-2 6-2 to claim victory
- The Serbian player is not the only player to stray away from the strict policy
Novak Djokovic made a triumphant return to tennis this week at Wimbledon.
The world no.2 claimed a straight-sets win over Czech, Vit Kopriva in the first round at Wimbledon and will play his round-two game against wild card, Jacob Fearnley today at 1:30pm.
The Serbian ace looked sharp on the court despite not having played a professional match since he was forced to withdraw from the French Open back in June due to a knee injury.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner underwent surgery for a meniscus tear in his right knee but was able to recover in time to try and claim his eight Wimbledon title.
The Serbian, despite having his knee heavily supported blitzed past Kopriva 6-1 6-2 6-2 to advance to the second round of the tournament. However he risked being punished for sporting a grey knee brace.
Wimbledon enforces a famously strict all-white policy that players must adhere to.
Meaning Djokovic’s grey knee brace was technically illegal and broke the ‘golden rule’ all players must following when stepping onto the infamous grass courts at the London venue.
The official rule reads: ‘Competitors must be dressed in suitable tennis attire that is almost entirely white and this applies from the point at which the player enters the court surround.’
Before going on to further add that ‘medical supports and equipment should be white if possible’ however, they can be coloured when ‘absolutely necessary’.
After his win, the 37-year-old addressed his knee brace and acknowledged that the colour of the brace didn’t exactly follow Wimbledon’s strict all-white policy.
But explained that he got the thumbs up from the tournament officials before the game that he was allowed to wear the grey brace.
Speaking after the game, he said ‘I did check. I actually just met the chairwoman just before walking onto the court.
‘She gave me thumbs up, so it was okay. Of course, we did check in the days prior if we have permission. We’re trying to find a white one, trust me.’
Djokovic isn’t the first player this week to get away with not following the strict all-white dress code.
American Frances Tiafoe has played his opening two round matches donning a black knee support.
The 29th seed at this year’s championship has had to wear the strap after slipping and spraining his MCL in the round-of-32 at Queens.
Djokovic was quick to highlight that he wasn’t the only player ‘breaking’ the rule and argued that his knee brace was closer to the colour white than Tiafoe’s and he didn’t get any pleasure in straying away from the traditional dress code.
‘I saw Frances Tiafoe played, he had actually a black colour sleeve. Grey, I think it’s maybe slightly better towards the white. I know it’s not ideal.’
‘I like to go all white and I like to respect the rules. But I got the permission. I said to them that I will give our best for next match [to find] the white one.’
All outfits are inspected prior to the tournament getting underway, but although the outfits may pass the initial inspection coming into the competition.
The referee has the final say on a player’s attire on the day of the match and can ban them if they see fit.
This isn’t the first time Wimbledon’s all-white rules have been highlighted, with the strict policy sparking debate for years.
American tennis player Andre Agassi famously boycotted the event for three years due to the all-white attire rule, whilst last year’s women’s finalist Ons Jabeur was forced off the court to change ahead of the final after wearing black during her warm up.
Roger Federer was another victim of the all-white police, as he was asked to change his shoes for his second round game, after he wore white shoes that had an orange sole in his opening game back in 2013.
One of the Williams sisters also broke the Wimbledon law in 2017. Venus Williams wore a hot pink bra in her first round game against Belgian Elise Mertens.
Despite being an undergarment, the rule still applied and Williams was forced to change during a stoppage in the game due to a rain delay.
The rule states 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).’