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Wimbledon's shock move after Ash Barty caught in photo 'disgrace'

Sam Goodwin
·Sports Editor
·4-min read
Ash Barty, pictured here represented as 'Miss A Barty' after winning Wimbledon in 2021.
Ash Barty was represented as 'Miss A Barty' after winning Wimbledon in 2021. (Photo by AELTC/Thomas Lovelock. - Pool/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Wimbledon officials are removing "Miss" and "Mrs" from its female champion honours boards after backlash over the outdated practice in recent years.

According to The Telegraph in the UK, new boards will be in place by the time the grass-court grand slam begins next month.

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The winner's boards around the All England Club have traditionally shown the initial and surname of the men's winner, but the women's winner has also carried their title of Miss or Mrs.

Ash Barty, who won the grand slam last year, was honoured on the board as Miss A Barty, while Novak Djokovic was shown as N Djokovic.

The practice of giving married women's champions the initials and surnames of their husbands is also being scrapped.

Chris Evert was previously on the board as Mrs J M Lloyd because she was married to John Lloyd when she won the title for a second time in 1981.

She was still on the board under that name as late as last year, despite not being married to Lloyd anymore.

The new board will be changed to C Evert Lloyd for the 1981 entry, while Evonne Goolagong Cawley's titles will also be changed.

The Wimbledon trophy, pictured here with female winners marked as 'Miss'.
The Wimbledon trophy with female winners such as Serena Williams and Simona Halep marked as 'Miss'. (Photo by AELTC/Pool/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Goolagong Cawley's triumph in 1980 is recognised on the board as 'Mrs R Cawley', with the 'R' standing for Goolagong Cawley's husband Roger.

The issue made headlines in 2021 when fans and pundits noticed the antiquated practice in photos of Barty posing with the trophy in front of the main champions board.

Tennis writer Paul Dennett said: "Surely Wimbledon must do away with such outdated and insulting styling.

"It is time to rewrite the honours board. Remove all the anachronistic instances of ‘Miss’ and ‘Mrs’ and get rid of the initials of female players’ husbands. ‘Miss. R. Cawley’ should be ‘Evonne Goolagong-Cawley’ and ‘Miss. J.M. Lloyd’ should be ‘Chris Evert’."

Greg Jericho of The Guardian Australia tweeted: "Seriously, Wimbledon - go back and change the Winners Honour Roll."

Wimbledon moving to ensure more gender equality

Up until 2019, umpires at Wimbledon also referred to female players by their titles during matches.

“I thought that tradition was very unique and very special. I thought it was nice,” Djokovic said at the time.

“It’s definitely not easy to alter or change any traditions here that have been present for many years.

"It’s quite surprising that they’ve done that.”

According to The Telegraph, the move is part of a push from Sally Bolton to add more gender equality to Wimbledon.

Bolton is the first female chief executive of the All England Club since its formation in 1868.

While Wimbledon has been the slowest of the four majors to offer equal prize money, Bolton moved to give male and female players the same towels for the first time in 2021.

Bolton also reportedly introduced an even split of male and female matches on the main courts at Wimbledon, which had previously been dominated by the men.

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