Nick Kyrgios risks wrath of Wimbledon purists with bold clothing suggestion for players

Nick Kyrgios has risked the wrath of Wimbledon purists by insisting the Championships should do away with the traditional all-white dress code. The Australian revealed he would much prefer to wear all black as he accused the event’s organisers of failing to recognise what’s “cool”.

Ahead of his opening round encounter with British wildcard Paul Jubb, Kyrgios, who has a reputation for going against the grain, spoke out against Wimbledon’s traditional attire expectations, which strictly insist upon players dressing in all-white. The tournament’s competitors are even prohibited from wearing off-white or cream, while the trim of colour on necklines and sleeves must also be no wider than a centimetre.

“I always want to wear all black, obviously,” Kyrgios declared with a wry smile during his pre-match press conference. “But I don’t think it’s something that’s going to change, I don’t know.

“I think it would be cool to allow, like, a black headband or black sweatband. I think it would look cool. Obviously Wimbledon doesn’t really care what looks cool… I don’t think it will ever change.”

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The build-up to this year’s grasscourt major has been marred but the All England Clubs’ decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players. That ruling has since seen the ATP and WTA announce that ranking points will no longer be awarded for this edition of Wimbledon, though record prize money of £40.3million is up for grabs.

While Kyrgios also admitted he was not in favour of the ban, which has prevented the No 1 ranked Daniil Medvedev from competing, the 27-year-old revealed the prestige of playing at Wimbledon was a far greater motive for partaking in this years’ tournament than playing for ranking points.

“As a kid, when I watched Wimbledon, when I wanted to play it, I wasn’t thinking about ranking points I was thinking about playing in the most prestigious tournament in the world,” he confessed. “That’s all I’m here for.

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