Wimbledon 2023: Barbara Schett - 'Why shouldn’t we talk about our period?'

We all know and love Wimbledon for its traditions, but we were very ready for this particular implementation. The all-white policy has been extremely strict — if you had one coloured stripe on your kit, you were sent off to the locker room. That’s not the case anymore, which is fantastic, especially for women who will be on their period during the tournament.

Players will have the choice of wearing coloured under-shorts, regardless of where they’re at in their menstrual cycle, so hopefully it means players won’t be conscious of the fact that people may wonder if they're on their period. That’s not something that would come up in my mind, anyway. I think it will look nice too, especially if there are different colours, even red.

Why not? Ad Some women experience very heavy bleeding, which is why this is a really positive progression. As a player, you can feel extremely conscious whilst playing on your period. WimbledonExclusive: Schett 'can't see anybody beating stronger than ever' Djokovic3 HOURS AGO I remember when I was about 21, I had a horrid experience in Prague.

I was on my period and could feel I needed to go to the toilet to change my tampon, but the toilet rules meant you could only go at the end of each set. I remember standing waiting for a return, where of course your legs are spread and I literally felt that it was going to fall out, and that’s a woman’s worst nightmare. I tried speaking to the umpire, but they said I had to wait until the end of the set, and I was just so conscious; I could barely move during the points.

It was the most uncomfortable thing and I felt so ashamed. I was too shy to explicitly tell the umpire I was on my period, but I’d like to think there would be more leniency now. That’s why