Wimbledon to scrap Mrs and Miss on women's honour roll in bid to modernise club

Wimbledon to scrap Mrs and Miss on women's honour roll in bid to modernise club
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Anna Fox

By Anna Fox


Published: 27/05/2022

- 09:55

Updated: 27/05/2022

- 10:00

The honorifics that only appear in front of female winners, but not mens will be dropped to conform with increasing gender equality at the club

The titles Miss and Mrs will be abolished from honour boards around the Wimbledon clubhouse, meaning female winners will be displayed by their first-name initial, then surname.

Women's and men's names have been presented on the honours board differently since the tournament began in 1877.


Winners of the men's championship are noted as their first name and their surname, meaning last year's champion, Novak Djokovic, was presented a "N Djokovic".

Traditionally, married women who won the championship would appear on the board with the initials and surnames of their husbands.

Chris Evert's 1981 title win was initially engraved as Mrs. J.M. Lloyd, but after her divorce from John Lloyd it changed to Miss C.M. Evert. All three of her title wins will now be documented as C.M. Evert.

Wimbledon's approach to how they refer to athletes has come under scrutiny in recent years.

They implemented a policy change in 2019 which marked the end of umpires identifying women's players with their titles, while male players were addressed by their surnames.

The changes to the honorific boards come after the appointment of the first female CEO in the clubs 150 year history.
The changes to the honorific boards come after the appointment of the first female CEO in the clubs 150 year history.
AELTC/Bob Martin

Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray was upset at the decision to remove ranking points from this years tournament.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray was upset at the decision to remove ranking points from this years tournament.
Adam Davy

Reacting to the 2019 change Djokovic said: "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."

Out of the four tennis grand slams, Wimbledon was the slowest to provide male and female players with equal prize money.

Up until last year men and women received different coloured towels to refresh themselves with during their games.

The decision to replace honours boards, comes after the appointment of the first female chief executive of the club since its opening in 1868.

Sally Bolton began the role after the 2020 championships and has since implemented a variety of alterations to level the gender divide.

Striking a balance in the modernisation of the institution, Wimbledon are set to continue referring to the "Gentleman's" and "Ladies'" draw, instead of men's and women's.

In recent weeks, Wimbledon has been dealing with the repercussions of banning Belarusian and Russian athletes from this year's competition.

In accordance with the ban, the ATP, WTA and ITF stated that ranking points would not be awarded at this year's championships, leaving the tournament an exhibition from a ranking perspective.

Reacting to the decision to remove ranking points, two-time champion Sir Andy Murray said: "Wimbledon will never be an exhibition and will never feel like an exhibition."

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