UNIFORMLY AWKWARD
Simon says... Gilles Simon hit out at equal pay Damir Dokic is escorted out after his bizarre rant Sole offender: Roger Federer’s Nikes got him into trouble, but he had the last laugh Super brat: John McEnroe airs another grievance
Few tennis parents are quite as intense as Australian tennis player Jelena Dokic’s father, Damir. He was escorted by police from Wimbledon in 2000 brandishing a huge flag of St George. He had asked to borrow a journalist’s mobile phone, smashed it, and then screamed: “The Queen is on the side of democracy – the rest of the country is fascist.” Damir later offered to replace the phone.
Wimbledon has offered equal pay to men and women since 2007, but French player Gilles Simon caused controversy in 2012 when he said the men deserved to earn more and claimed every player in the men’s locker room agreed.
He said: “My point was that I have the feeling men’s tennis is actually more interesting than women’s tennis.”
Maria Sharapova responded by saying: “I’m sure there are more people that watch my matches than his.”
Wimbledon enforces a strict clothing policy, with players asked to ahere to a 10-point guide. Their outfits must be “almost entirely white” – even off-white or cream are not allowed. The guide also states that “common standards of decency” should apply to underwear. Players have tested the code over the years. American player Gertrude Moran caused a stir at Wimbledon in 1949 when spectators caught a glimpse of her frilly laced knickers on court. The British press promptly nicknamed her Gorgeous Gussie.
She turned up the following year in another eye-catching outfit – a bloomer-type tennis kit specially designed for her for the Wimbledon championships by Pierre Balmain. The French sports outfit was called Temptress and made of silk chiffon.
The length of future Question Of Sport presenter Sue Barker’s hemlines were causing a stir in 1977 and were labelled “risque” for revealing too much skin.
America’s Anne White turned up in a revolutionary white catsuit in 1985 and completed the ensemble with white leg warmers.
Even Swiss tennis star Roger Federer had to toe the line in 2013 when he was forbidden from wearing neon orange-soled Nike trainers and told by Wimbledon officials to change them for his second round match against Sergiy Stakhovsky.
The shoes – a special version of Nike’s Zoom Vapour range – were specially made for the tennis star.
They promptly sold out.