Tennis whites soon became the norm and Wimbledon organisers, fond of upholding tradition, have been loath to meddle with it. Some trace the term back to the 17th-century expression "play for love", meaning 'to play without any wager, for nothing'. Ireland's very first (and so far only) female winner of Wimbledon was Tipperary woman Helena Rice, better known as Lena. Fifteen-year-old Cori 'Coco' Gauff beat Venus Williams in the opening round and became the youngest Wimbledon first round winner since 1991. Since 2007, Wimbledon has awarded equal prize money to men and women, but women are still afforded less time on the main show courts.

Source: Irish Independent July 02, 2019 01:34 UTC