By Rohit Brijnath
Senior Correspondent
rohitb@sph.com.sg

 

SOMEONE asked me snidely on Monday about Roger Federer's jacket. Yesterday someone expressed dismay. Then today the excellent Jon Wertheim gave His Nattiness a jab in his column on the Sports Illustrated website. Almost a week later people are still talking. Rog was the cool guy, now he's becoming a bit of a Mr Federer.

Federer's clothes didn't really bother me. When he once turned up in long trousers he looked like Big Bill Tilden and it was a respectful nod to an older time. Some of his recent stuff has been lame, but I shrugged and got distracted by his fine tennis. If the man wants to have a logo, big deal.

But the 15 on his jacket, which signified how many grand slam titles he had won, was plain indulgent.

People say Federer is a regular guy and he is. Do you see Tiger Woods spending a Christmas season playing cricket at a shelter for Indian kids hit by the tsunami? Fed did.

Can you imagine a football official saying of Ronaldo, as an ATP official once told me about Federer: "Normally we have to tell players what to do. Federer comes and asks us, what more do you want me to do".

He comes to a press conference and answers questions in English, French, German, when most players, using monosyllables, don't want to do even one language. He dated Mirka forever, married her, and really, it's kinda nice that she isn't one of those blue-eyed, blonde, swimsuit model-clones.

I say this because no one's getting after the Fed, it's just that he needs to relook his wardbrobe and what it says about him. A little vanity is fine, but he of all people should know, timing is everything.

On a day when Roddick's broken heart littered the court, on a day of sweat, the jacket with the 15 looked out of place, like a lacy shirt on a gladiator. It was that worst of things, it was showing off, and that's not Federer.

Federer was actually considerate to Roddick in a way. He didn't fall down and weep, he recognised this was not a day for that. He had just won, Roddick had only just lost. The truly great players do this. Rafael Nadal in Melbourne, for instance, was wonderfully gentle with a weeping Federer.

So at Wimbledon, when Federer went to his bag to pull out the 15 jacket, he should have said, ah, forget it. Not today. Sponsor be damned.

Roddick deserved better than having the jacket paraded before him, which basically said, dude, you were always going to lose. Federer deserved better than being seen as pretentious when he clearly isn't. In the locker room, he's admired and respected, but some eyebrows might have been raised.

Athletes sometimes lose their sense of place. LeBron James reportedly asking that footage of someone dunking over him should be confiscated proves that. It shows a shallowness, a fragile ego. He played beautifully all season, but by refusing to shake hands with the Orlando Magic players, and now this, his beauty is sullied.

Federer's sin is minor. But remembered. In the days when he won everything, Federer was respected; when he started losing, people started cheering for him; now that he's bravely fought his way back, people are impressed. That's the image he wants. Tough guy in a naturally stylish package. No jacket required.