Wimbledon removing ‘Miss’ and ‘Mrs’ on women’s honours board to copy men’s board

Wimbledon is set to replace its honours boards before The Championships begin next month in order to remove the titles ‘Miss’ and ‘Mrs’ in front of the names of female winners.

Umpires at Wimbledon stopped using the terms ‘Miss’ and ‘Mrs’ when announcing scores during women’s matches in 2019, but the practice has not been wiped out across the board.

In the past, the chair umpire would use the titles at the end of each game during women’s matches, and at the end of the match – something that did not happen during men’s matches.

For example, if Serena Williams won a game, the chair umpire would announce ‘Game, Miss Williams’. However, a men’s match would see the announcement be ‘Game, Nadal’ if 21-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal had claimed a game. 

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For 2022, Wimbledon is set to go a step further in its push for equality by changing the honours boards displayed around the hallowed club halls, with the most visible one being in the clubhouse itself. The men’s boards have always just had the initial and surname, with last year’s champion Novak Djokovic down as ’N Djokovic’ – but from the very start of the tournament in the 19th century, the women’s winner had her title included too.

Ashleigh Barty, the recently retired former World No.1, claimed the Wimbledon title in 2021 and was on the board as ‘Miss A Barty’, while Maud Watson – the first winner in 1884 – was down as ‘Miss M Watson’. The All England Club is also reportedly updating the old-fashioned practice of giving married women who won titles the initials and surname of their husbands.

This is seen on Chris Evert’s entries on the honours board, with ‘Miss C M Evert’ on the board for her 1974 and 1976 title wins, and ‘Mrs J M Lloyd’ on for her 1981 win after she married former British player John Lloyd, which had remained there up until this year, despite the pair divorcing 35 years ago.

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