Wimbledon will drop ‘Miss’ and ‘Mrs.’ from names on women’s honor roll

Wimbledon will no longer have titles before the names of its female champions on the honor board in a push to further modernize the tournament.

Since the tournament began in 1877, women’s winners have had “Miss” or “Mrs.” placed before them. Men’s winners are recorded by their first initial and their surname. For example, last year’s men’s champion, Novak Djokovic, was presented as “N. Djokovic.” Ash Barty, however, was listed as “Miss A. Barty.”

The news was first reported in the Times. Additionally, women will no longer be identified by the initials and surnames of their husbands. For example, Chris Evert who was married to John Lloyd at the time of her 1981 win was identified as Mrs. J.M. Lloyd. She will now be known as C.M. Evert for her trio of victories.

This comes as moves toward gender equity continue to be made at Wimbledon. In 2019, the tournament ended the policy of umpires identifying women’s players with their titles. While Roger Federer was simply called by his last name, players like Serena Williams would be referred to as “Mrs. Williams.”