Tennis player's candid confession breaks last taboo in women's game

Britain’s number one tennis player Heather Watson has attributed her loss in the first round of the Australian Open to her “girl things.”

Watson consulted a doctor courtside at the end of the first set, citing dizziness and nausea before losing to Bulgarian Tsvetsana Pironkova after the second straight set.

“I think it’s just one of these things that I have, girl things,” Watson told the BBC, referring to menstruation.

Her candid response saw her shatter a taboo subject in women’s sports.

Former British tennis number one Annabel Croft admitted that menstruation is an issue with which women “suffer in silence.”

Writing for The Independent, Croft calls Watson’s admission “a first” and one that “has opened up a huge debate on menstruation in female sport.”

The current British number five Tara Moore told the Telegraph: “We have to deal with another element that no one speaks about.”

The International Tennis Federation only allows players to take a break once every set, a rule Moore calls “tough.” In addition, many painkillers which treat period pain are banned.

An executive for Britain’s Women in Sport emphasises the importance of sensitivity to “the potential impacts of the menstrual cycle.”