Not even Roger Federer is exempt from Wimbledon’s strict dress code.
According to the Daily Mail, Wimbledon’s fashion police have asked the No. 3 seed not to wear his orange-soled shoes the next time he steps onto the courts at the All England Club. Federer disposed of Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 on Monday to advance to the second round.
Wimbledon, which is well known for its tradition, requires players to dress in nearly all white outfits. Tournament rules require clothing manufacturers to submit outfits 90 days ahead of the tournament for inspection. Apparently officials did not scrutinize the shoes too carefully.
Federer’s custom-made Nike shoes have orange soles and an orange logo of the Wimbledon men’s champion trophy with the number “7,” to represent the amount of times he has won the tournament (seen below):
The shoes #7 #Federer #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/gu5bM7Gc3U
— Roger Federer Pics (@RFedererPics) June 24, 2013
The orange soles and trophy logo on Federer’s shoes matched the orange swoosh on his headband and shirt Monday.
The Daily Mail also speculated that Serena Williams, another Nike athlete who had orange-soled shoes, could be required by the tournament to make a change:
@Wimbledon why ban Rogers shoes when Serena wears colour all the time? Like that same orang colour. #wimbledon pic.twitter.com/FPKHLl349M
— (@starlitezone) June 26, 2013
Wimbledon means business when it comes to their fashion rules. Tennis fans will recall that early in his career, Andre Agassi did not play Wimbledon from 1988-1990 because he refused to conform to the dress code. As he matured and grew out of his “rebel” phase, Agassi chose to play Wimbledon and even won it in 1992. But this dress code thing at Wimbledon is no joke. Even Victoria Azarenka found out last year that the rules are even applied during practice!
Photo: Twitter/Vibhuism
