Defending champion Serena Williams will wear a slightly adapted version of the outfit at Wimbledon this year. PHOTO/AFP.
OREGON, United States June 23 – Nike have recalled the tennis dresses due to be used by their female players at Wimbledon after complaints that the skimpy outfits reveal too much flesh.
The manufacturers asked those who wear their apparel at least 20 players in the main women’s draw to send them back for alterations days ahead of The Championships.
Players complained that the 11,187 Kenya Shilling £75 ‘Nike Premier Slam’ dress flies up above the waistline and hampers their play.
In this week’s qualifying event at Roehampton, GB prospect Katie Boulter, 19, wore a belt improvised from a hairband to keep her dress in place. Czech Lucie Hradecka, 31, wore knee-length leggings underneath.
Wimbledon passed the design because it complies with their white kit rules.Nike told their players to bring the dresses to their rented house close to the All England Club for alterations.
An email from its sports marketing team sent to players and their representatives, seen bySportsmail, says: ‘We need to make a small change to your dresses per Wimbledon rules. Could you please bring them by the Nike Wimbledon House.’
In thick, underlined type there then follows the message ‘this is VERY important’.Eugenie Bouchard and Laura Robson are among the stars expected to have their dresses lengthened by the sportswear firm.
Wimbledon has a famously strict all-white dress code which states that ‘common standards of decency are required at all times’.
Serena Williams, the company’s highest profile endorsee in the event, will wear a slightly adapted version of the outfit, the ‘Nike Women’s Premier Wimbledon Serena SW19 Dress’.
The 14,936 Kenya Shilling (£100) dress is more structured and features a nipped in waist and a higher neckline. An All England Club spokesman described it as a matter for Nike.
‘We approved it because it fully complies with our colour regulations,’ he said.Nike declined to comment when approached on Wednesday.
