For the first time in its 132-year history, Wimbledon has dropped the “Mrs” and “Miss” prefixes from female players’ names on the scoreboards.

Though men have never been referred to as “Mr” at the All England Club, women have always had their formal titles in front of their names. This year however the club opted to remove them from scoreboards.

The titles will be replaced by the female players’ first names which, until now, were reduced to an initial, such as in “Miss M Navratilova”. The title “Ms” has never been used.

Match umpires will continue to use the titles, so Laura Robson will remain “Miss Robson” to the match officials, but will be “Laura Robson (GBR)” on the scoreboards.

A spokeswoman for the All England Club said: “We decided to bring it into line with the men. Wimbledon is always moving forward, balancing tradition with modernity.”

The move will also remove confusion when sisters play each other, especially tournament favourites Serena and Venus Williams. Umpires will still have to differentiate by referring to them as Miss Serena or Miss Venus Williams when calling points and scores in matches between them.

British teenager Laura Robson said she had not noticed the change this year, and added: “I thought it looked quite nice with “Miss” up there, but then it’s not up to me.” Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues, ranked number 20 in the world, welcomed the change, which brings Wimbledon in line with other tournaments around the world, adding: “I don’t think it’s strange that they’ve done it.”

The decision follows the move two years ago to bring women’s prize money at Wimbledon in line with the men’s tournament, and singles champions of both sexes will win £850,000 this year.

There was controversy over the decision as women’s tennis is restricted to three sets, rather than the five played by men, but Robson said: “I personally wouldn’t want to play five sets. Well done to the men for doing that.”

There remains pressure from certain quarters in the tennis industry to ask women to play best-of-five-set matches rather than three, but there are currently no plans to implement this.

Wimbledon traditions

The first Wimbledon championships took place in 1877, and for the first seven years there was only a Gentlemen’s singles tournament. In 1874, a ladies tournament was introduced.

Ballgirls were first allowed on Centre Court in 1985 in an earlier move for gender equality at the championships.

Players will still be asked to bow to the Queen or the Prince of Wales if they attend, as speculation mounts that one or other of them will attend the final if Andy Murray progresses that far. The Queen has not attended the championships since she watched Virginia Wade win Wimbledon in the year of her Silver Jubilee in 1977, and Prince Charles has not attended since 1970, leaving the honours to the Duke and Duchess of Kent.

Wimbledon is renowned for being a conservative tournament, where players are expected to wear white and, until recently, had to bow or curtsey to the royal box when entering and leaving Centre Court.

This tradition was scrapped in recent years at the Duke of Kent’s request, who said it did not fit in with the modern game.