NEW DELHI: The
Wimbledon
women's singles final is set to take place on Saturday at the
All England Club
, featuring Italy's Jasmine Paolini, the seventh seed, and Barbora Krejcikova, the 31st-seeded player from the Czech Republic.
It is a surprising matchup, considering Paolini had never won a match on grass until this summer, and Krejcikova, at 28 years old, had been experiencing a series of first-round defeats throughout the season.
Nevertheless, one of these two players will emerge victorious and have the honour of holding the
Venus Rosewater Dish
on Centre Court.
It is inevitable that one of these two players will lift the title at the end of the day. However, unlike in previous years,
female champions
will no longer have "
Miss
" or "
Mrs
" inscribed on the winners'
honour roll
.
In the past, it was customary for women players to have "Miss" or "Mrs" written on the winners' honour roll. However, the
All England Lawn Tennis Club
(AELTC) decided to modernize Wimbledon's honour roll by removing these titles from the names of female champions, starting from the 2022 edition.
Historically, Wimbledon has recorded men's champions using just their first initial and surname, such as "N. Djokovic" for Novak Djokovic. Conversely, women's champions were listed with titles, such as "Miss V. Williams" for Venus Williams or "Mrs. J.M. Lloyd" for Chris Evert when she was married to John Lloyd. This practice extended to using a married woman's husband's initials and surname, an outdated tradition that persisted until 2022.
The decision to change the honour boards is part of a broader push to modernize the tournament and ensure parity between male and female champions. The previous system has often been criticized as a reflection of Wimbledon being out of touch with contemporary values.
In 2018, The New York Times highlighted the different ways umpires addressed male and female players. A year later, Wimbledon stopped using titles during match calls, referring to Serena Williams as "Williams" rather than "Mrs. Williams."
The change has been welcomed by many who see it as a necessary step towards equality. Now, all champions will be recorded by their initials and surnames only, regardless of gender or marital status.
English (US) ·