The Katrina Adams WIMBLEBUM Moment

Fiend at Court Unplugged

Katrina Adams, the trailblazing former president of the USTA, brazenly violated the all-white dress code at Wimbledon when completing there as a player in 1994. She had the audacity to wear a pair of distinctly non-white tennis panties during a singles match at the Championships that year.

Adams relayed the story in her memoir Own the Arena. She was sponsored by “Fancy Pants” which was marketing a line of brightly colored tennis panties. Her match that day was played on Court 5 which is near the Royal Box Terrace. Additionally, Adams reported that it was a blustery day, which frequently caused her tennis skirt to blow up in the wind.

The press and spectators were delighted. The officials at the All England Club… not so much.

The rendition of the post match press conference relayed by Adams in Own the Arena tracks closely with what was reported by the Independent (UK) during the fortnight when it occurred:

Q. Your underwear. Can you tell us about that?
A. They’re called Fancy Pants.
Q. Can you tell us what colour they are today? I’m sorry to have to ask you this.
A. To be honest, I don’t remember. I know I had some pink and green in it . . .
Q. If it’s any consolation, I thought that they were very attractive.
Excerpt from 1994 Wimbledon Post Match Press with Katrina Adams [1]

Adams recounted that pictures of her hot-pink, black, and green panties were carried in all the London newspapers and tabloids. Additionally one printed the headline “WIMBLEBUM” on it’s front page. Sadly, I have been unable to locate one of those pictures, but the description implies that the photographers reacted very similarly to when Gussie Moran made a similar wardrobe choice in 1949.

Katrina Adams was a stickler for dress codes during her tenure as USTA president. That fact makes this story all the more amazing.