‘Terrific to See’- Billie Jean King and Chris Evert Applaud Wimbledon’s Move Towards an Egalitarian Sport

Women in tennis have been, for years, a shining example of women’s capacity to excel in any sport. Throughout tennis’ illustrious history, women have played an equal, if not a bigger part, in enhancing its popularity across the globe.

Despite their contributions, they have had their fair share of struggles. Recently, one of the oldest and most prestigious Grand Slams in tennis, Wimbledon, made a decision that was welcomed by both active and retired players. Chris Evert and Billie Jean King were among those to acknowledge the effort.

Chris Evert and Billie Jean King applaud Wimbledon’s move

Tennis legends Chris Evert and Billie Jean King applauded Wimbledon’s move to remove the titles “Miss” and “Mrs.” before the name of female winners on its honor roll.

Evert retweeted Martyn Ziegler’s tweet that stated, “1981: Mrs J M Lloyd will become 1981: C M Evert Lloyd and about time I think @ChrissieEvert”.

Chris Evert, an 18-time grand slam winner, has brought name and fame to tennis. Evert married John Lloyd in 1979 and remained together until her divorce in 1987. However, her name remains Mrs. J.M. Lloyd on the ‘Honours Board’ for her 1981 victory.

Billie Jean King appreciates the step towards equality

Along with Evert, tennis legend Billie Jean King also appreciated this move. She took to Twitter and stated, “Terrific to see #Wimbledon making this important change. #EqualityForAll”. Billie Jean King is the founder of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and has considerably strived to uplift women in tennis.

Wimbledon has announced this move to modernize the sport. The move will put an end to the use of initials and surnames of married women’s husbands.

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The All England Lawn Tennis Club has always used such titles only for women. Earlier, the organizers did away with the use of honorifics while announcing the score during women’s matches.

Sanctions on Wimbledon

Wimbledon has been facing a ban by WTA and ATP and was stripped of its ranking points for the upcoming championships. The decision was a retaliation for the ban enforced by Wimbledon on Russian and Belarusian players.

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This caused a stir and players like Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic heavily criticized the decision. In turn, Wimbledon has indicated their intention to take legal proceeding against the WTA and ATP.