Dress Codes: Why do tennis players wear white

Tennis whites are a centuries-old tradition that are pure, crisp, and entirely white. In addition to making the racquet sport stand out, its striking appearance has made it a fixture of off-court fashion as well.

And Wimbledon, the first major tournament, has stuck to its rigorous rules, as have several private clubs throughout the world, even if the majority of them have abandoned the colorless uniformity. A decade ago, the prestigious championship even strictly enforced the restriction, banning bright accents that were becoming more and more popular. This was the year that Roger Federer’s now-famous orange-soled sneakers were banned following his first round in 2013.

Originally, the regulations stipulated that clothing had to be “predominantly white,” although some contestants were free to experiment with color schemes. One such example is Serena Williams’ 2010 tribute to the Wimbledon dessert of strawberries and cream. However, the organizers claim that the government modified the phrase to “almost entirely white”—that is, no off-white, no colored panels, and no different hues of footwear. The sole recent relaxation of the regulations occurred in 2023, when it was decided to permit women to wear dark shorts on the court in response to complaints that the regulations did not account for menstrual leaks.