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The Hot New Italian Player at Wimbledon: GucciJannik Sinner swapped his athletic bag for a large logo-covered duffel by Gucci. It may be a new frontier for luxury brands in tennis.
In a departure from tennis tradition, Jannik Sinner appeared on court at Wimbledon with a custom-made Gucci duffel bag.Credit...Zac Goodwin/PA Images, via Getty ImagesJuly 3, 2023
It was the kind of bag you may spot in the overhead bin of an airplane’s first-class cabin. Except it was being carried onto Centre Court at Wimbledon by a 6-foot-2-inch redhead.
Jannik Sinner, 21, the Italian tennis player ranked eighth in the world, broke from tradition Monday when he emerged on court with a custom-made duffel bag wrapped in Gucci’s “GG” monogram, its red and green straps slung over a shoulder.
To the average sports fan, this may not seem so extraordinary. In basketball, tunnel walks have become mini fashion shows as players make their way to their locker rooms drenched in designer clothing and accessories.
But that kind of sartorial energy has not yet come to tennis — especially not to Wimbledon, the most traditional of the four Grand Slam tournaments, with its strict all-white uniform requirements. (This is the first year that women playing at Wimbledon are allowed to wear nonwhite underwear, to ease anxiety around periods.)
Players at Grand Slams abide by a rule book that regulates what they can wear and carry onto courts. There are limits on the size, placement and number of logos on their sleeves, collars, headbands, socks and, yes, equipment bags.
Many players carry both a racket bag and a personal duffel bag onto court, but typically they’re obvious athletic bags. A few hours before Mr. Sinner’s match began, for example, Novak Djokovic (ranked second in the world) walked onto Centre Court with two white bags made by Head, his racket sponsor.
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