Wimbledon to drop Mrs and Miss on women’s honours board to match men’s titles

Married female winners of the tournament have been recognised on the honours board by their husband's initial and surname

Wimbledon organisers have decided to remove titles before the names of female champions on the honours board at the tournament. Currently, the honours board - which has the name of every female champion on it - has either Miss or Mrs before each name. And in the case of married winners, they are identified by their husband's initial and surname. The titles of female champions will now be removed, the Times reports. This will bring them in line with male champions, whose names appear on the board as just their initial and their surname. For example, last year's men's champion Novak Djokovic appears on the men's champions board as simply N. Djokovic. But the 2021 female champion, Ashleigh Barty is identified on the honours board as Miss A. Barty. The move is the latest in a series of efforts to modernise the tournament, with the use of women's titles on the board seen as outdated, particularly when it comes to recognising married female winners. Since the first edition of Wimbledon in 1877, married female winners have been identified on the board by the initial and surname of their husband. For example, Chris Evert won the tournament in 1981, but because she was married to John Lloyd at the time, her name appears on the board as Mrs. J.M. Lloyd for that year. For her wins in 1974 and 1976 her name appears as Miss C. Evert, but despite her and Lloyd divorcing in 1987, she is still recognised by Lloyd's name for her 1981 triumph. Following the change, she will now be on the board as simply C.M. Evert. [caption id="attachment_338571" align="alignnone" width="2048"] The 1980 and 1981 champions, Evanne Goolagong Cawley and Chris Evert, are both identified on the board by the initials and surnames of their husbands at the time (Getty)[/caption] Six-time champion and pioneer for women's equality Billie Jean King has experienced a similar thing. Despite divorcing from Larry King in 1987, she has always been listed on the honours board as Mrs. L.W. King. The same applies to the great Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who appears on the board as Mrs. R. Cawley because of her marriage to British tennis player Roger Cawley. The All England Club has come under growing pressure in recent years to modernise and ditch traditions that are seen by many as archaic and outdated. In 2019, Wimbledon ended the policy of umpires identifying women's players by their titles, but calling the men simply by their second name. For example, Serena Williams would be referred to as 'Mrs Williams' whereas Roger Federer would simply be called 'Federer' by the umpire. And when Ash Barty won the title last year, the honours board drew criticism from Australian media for it's old-fashioned nature, with sports opinion publication The Roar labelling the tradition "outdated and insulting." Related links:

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