{"id":51674,"date":"2025-07-09T15:05:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T15:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/51674\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T15:05:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T15:05:17","slug":"novak-djokovic-found-loophole-in-wimbledon-rule-which-got-two-time-finalist-booted-off-centre-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/51674\/","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic found loophole in Wimbledon rule which got two-time finalist booted off Centre Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic is now 38 and Old Father Time appears to be catching up with him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Injuries and other issues are now affecting him more than ever – and he\u2019s doing his best to keep them at bay.<\/p>\n

\"Djokovic<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Djokovic broke Wimbledon’s all-white rule, but it was for good reasonCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

The 24-time Grand Slam winner is through to the Wimbledon<\/a> quarter-finals despite suffering apparent breathing issues in the fourth round.<\/p>\n

He will be hoping that does not impede his game when he steps out on court to face Flavio Cobolli on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Back in 2024, it was a knee issue that was causing him great trouble and had to battle to even make the tournament.<\/p>\n

He underwent knee surgery on a meniscus injury just weeks before Wimbledon.<\/p>\n

Djokovic was seen sporting a sizeable brace on his right knee, but it was one that was, by all intents and purposes, illegal.<\/p>\n

The All England club enforces a strict all-white rule during the Championship which even saw Ons Jabeur<\/a> temporarily thrown off<\/a> Centre Court ahead of last year\u2019s final for warming up in a black training top.<\/p>\n

However, given Djokovic\u2019s grey brace was the only thing keeping the sport\u2019s most famous current player in action, a rare exception had to be made.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t for the want of trying on the Serbian\u2019s part either, as he explained: \u201cI did check. I actually just met the chairwoman just before walking onto the court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“She gave me thumbs up, so it was okay. Of course, we did check in the days prior if we have permission. We’re trying to find a white one, trust me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw Frances Tiafoe played, he had actually a black colour sleeve. Gray, I think it’s maybe slightly better towards the white. I know it’s not ideal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Djokovic<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Djokovic insisted that if it were up to him he’d have been playing in all-whiteCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to go all white and I like to respect the rules. But I got the permission. I said to them that I will give our best for next match [to find] the white one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The official rule reads: \u2018Competitors must be dressed in suitable tennis attire that is almost entirely white and this applies from the point at which the player enters the court surround.\u2019<\/p>\n

Current world no.1 Jannik Sinner<\/a> similarly broke the rule in 2023, but had some leeway as it was equipment rather than attire.<\/p>\n

The Italian marched out with a gold Gucci bag<\/a>, but only after an agreement between the company and Wimbledon\u2019s organisers.<\/p>\n

Not everyone is so lucky though. In 2022 Australian star Nick Kyrgios<\/a> sported a pair of red Air Jordans which pocketed him a \u00a31100 fine, and he later told the media \u2018I do what I want\u2019.<\/p>\n

Kyrgios even went so far as to say that the all white rule should be scrapped at Wimbledon<\/a>, for one year at least.<\/p>\n

\"Djokovic<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Djokovic struggled with his breathing earlier in the tournamentCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

He told talkSPORT.com: \u201cI think it’d be cool to mix it up. I think everyone should wear all black.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would contrast the grass well and the white lines. I think that would be. It’d be a good change. I think one year they should just do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would look super clean on the court and on TV. It would look amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now it is set to stay, but calls are growing louder for changes to be made.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic is now 38 and Old Father Time appears to be catching up with him. Injuries and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":51675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[38709,38710,9125,62,1464,10119,67,132,68,2071,17056,38711],"class_list":{"0":"post-51674","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-djokovic","9":"tag-djokovic-tennis","10":"tag-novak-djokovic","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-tennis","13":"tag-tennis-news","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-wimbledon","18":"tag-wimbledon-news","19":"tag-wimbledon-quarter-finals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114823897090035868","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}