Wimbledon allow tennis star to use loophole to get around banned symbol rules

Wimbledon has refused to ban players from displaying watermelons as a pro-Palestine symbol, after Turkish player Zeynep Sonmez drew attention for this.

World No.51 Sonmez has been using a watermelon shock absorber on her racket in her matches at the All England Club this week, having been blocked from wearing a pin in support of Palestine.

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While players are usually not allowed to make political statements on court, officials at the grass court major have said the watermelon dampener is not considered disruptive.

The watermelon is regarded as a symbol for Palestinian solidarity, as its red, white, black and green colours match the flag.

Jamie Baker, tournament director at Wimbledon, explained why they judged Sonmez’s particular symbol to stop short of doing so.

Baker said: “We don’t allow political messaging from players on court, certainly [messages] that cause type of disruption, so that has been consistent across the rules for a long time.

“In terms of the watermelon, we don’t think that’s meeting the threshold for causing any type of disruption.”

Sonmez explains choice of symbol

Wimbledon bans objects and clothing carrying political statements or symbols that are political in nature, or are used to spread a political message.

Heading into the major, Sonmez had raised questions after not being allowed to wear the pro-Palestinian pin she had worn at previous tournaments.

The 24-year-old revealed she had questioned why the Ukraine flag was allowed but not Palestine’s.

Sonmez told a Turkish state-run news agency on Thursday: “I used to wear a pin. Tournaments no longer allow me to wear it.

“We had a discussion with the organisers because the Ukrainian flag is allowed but the Palestinian is not.

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“They ultimately told us they definitely would not allow it. So, I can’t wear the pin. I can use the vibration dampener, and they can’t object to that. That’s why I put the watermelon symbol on my racket.”

Zeynep has displayed the symbol throughout the first week at Wimbledon, but won’t be continuing to do so.

The Turkish no.1’s campaign has been brought to an early end in both singles and doubles draws.

She suffered a second-round exit in the singles on Wednesday, losing to US player Claire Liu in straight sets, before being knocked out of the doubles alongside partner Jessica Bouzas Maneiro on Thursday.

Where does Wimbledon stand on symbols?

In 2022, Wimbledon relaxed its strict, all-white dress code to allow players to show support for Ukraine.

Then women’s world no.1, Iga Swiatek, wore a cap bearing the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag at the tournament.

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Players are still allowed to sport symbols in support of the war-torn nation, with Ukrainian player Daria Snigur, wearing a yellow and blue ribbon on her outfit at this year’s edition.

While Wimbledon director Baker acknowledged that political messages were banned from being displayed on court, he called the Ukraine situation ‘unique’ compared to Palestine’s.

He said: “The Ukrainian situation was obviously quite unique, [with] everything that happened here around our government guidance and international response, and we did respond to that and provided support to Ukrainian players for quite a while.

“So that was, I guess, an individual situation.”

As well as allowing pro-Ukrainian messaging, Wimbledon has also banned spectators from carrying flags that measure more than two inches or any objects or clothing items that contain Russian and Belarusian symbols.

The All England Club has also previously allowed players to wear black ribbons to mark tragedies, with Portuguese player Francisco Cabral doing so to pay tribute to the late Diogo Jota last year.