Bouchard has said that some of her fellow female athletes are cagey about donning the Wimbledon whites at particular times of the month
Eugenie Bouchard has admitted that female tennis players are worried about Wimbledon’s dress code – especially when playing around the time they get their periods.
Men and women competing in the summer tournament of London must wear all-white clothing, due to a draconian rule embedded in the code of the 1880s. Sweat stains were considered to be unsightly at the time, so officials decided that competitors must wear white to minimise any visibility – as coloured clothing shows sweat patches clearer.
And while the strict dress code is still upheld to this day, it can spell trouble for female athletes in particular. Last year, however, Wimbledon did address female players’ concerns by introducing a new rule which permits women to wear dark undershorts as long as they don’t show beneath their white skirts. Speaking with Valeria Lipovetsky on the Not Alone podcast, Canadian tennis pro Bouchard admitted the fact that players have to wear white can still cause some anxiety.
She said: “Unfortunately we cannot plan our own tennis matches, that is something completely out of our control. The tournament decides the schedule and when you play, so there’s no chance for that at all. I’ve definitely experienced really bad period cramps, pain, and I remember having that the day before the US Open in New York.
“And I was like ‘thank god this is just a practice day today, because if I had to play my match today it would be really hard’. I did play right away the next day so it wasn’t the best but it’s just something we have to deal with. We cannot control the schedule so it’s just luck.
“And I know some of the girls on tour also get a little worried when it comes to Wimbledon because you have to wear white. So it just makes you a little more self-conscious if you’re…you know. It’s tough, but now they’ve changed the rules where you can wear like a different-coloured undergarment – so your ball shorts under the dress can be a different colour. But that’s a super-recent rule.”
Bouchard also fired back against sexism faced in the sport over the years, citing how she was afraid to do things she enjoyed away from the courts over fears of backlash from tennis fans around the world. She added: “I would like to say that somewhat early on I was open to doing off-court projects or different things – and that’s something actually I got, at times, negative comments about, because it was like ‘well, you’re a tennis player, you shouldn’t be doing a photoshoot for Vogue. Like, what are you doing?’.
“Back in the day I think that it was a lot less acceptable to do that. People really wanted you to stay in your box a lot more. And so it made me feel bad, it made me feel guilty. I’m like ‘well I did still practice four hours today, I swear’ and I just felt this aggressive kind of guilting put on me.
“I really stayed with tennis – some off-court projects here and there – and then it was just more recently where I’m now playing pickleball and have my hands in multiple different things, and I feel a huge sense of enjoyment out of that, because since five, since eight, since nine it’s really been only tennis. And I love it.”
It comes after the 30-year-old recently hit out at double standards in the sport – citing how she would have been “crucified” for saying that she enjoys the limelight. In a recent interview with Vogue, up-and-comer Jack Draper admitted: “I quite enjoy being in front of the camera, if I’m looking good, that is.”
But the sentiment didn’t sit right with Bouchard, who took to X to write: “If I had said this 10 years ago I would have been crucified,” – and fans flocked to the comments section in agreement. One wrote: “Raducanu is still getting criticized, nothing has changed for women. Double standards still exists,” while another added: “You still would be today!”
Wimbledon’s Grand Slam lands next month, with the draw for the initial fixtures to come Friday (June 28). Bouchard’s best crack at the tournament came back in 2014 when she reached the final of the women’s singles tournament by bettering Angelique Kerber in the quarter-finals and Simona Halep in the semis. She would meet Olympic bronze medallist Petra Kvitová in the final, missing out after 6-3 and 6-0 straight-set defeat.