WIMBLEDON - WIMBLEDON is awash with food stalls and restaurants, but you can't bring those tasty treats into the players' locker rooms. And that has Serena Williams angry.

Williams said she was told of the rule on the tournament's opening day on Monday, when she was eating before her first-round victory.

'Wow, really I thought to myself as I continued eating & of course the lady reminded me of the new rule. Again, I was in shock', Williams wrote.

Williams noted that fruit and health bars are offered to players in the locker room. What she didn't realise was that there is a ban on food brought from in outside.

'Why have food in a room if we aren't allowed to eat in the locker room. This rule is unfair', she wrote.

'I do not agree with this rule. Like, do they really expect me or any other player to actually walk outside all the way to the player's lounge. That is time not spent well & I value my time.'

Mr Johnny Perkins, a spokesman for the All England Club, said the rule barring players from bringing food into the locker rooms has been in force for nearly a decade and is designed to keep the players' locker rooms clean.

'In the end, someone has to clear it all up', he said. He said the rule was designed to protect players, 'so they do not have to change among excess food and cartons and whatnot.' He noted that there are facilities where players can eat.

'There's a perfectly good restaurant', Mr Perkins said. -- AP