Matteo Berrettini's designer outfit banned by Wimbledon for 'not being white enough'
Former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini was forced to change his outfit ahead of his second-round appearance after the All England Club deemed it too colourful.
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Berrettini, who is currently ranked world no 49, wore an 'off-white' outfit by his sponsor Hugo Boss to the courts earlier this week.
The Italian, who reached the Wimbledon final in 2021 before ultimately losing to Novak Djokovic in four sets, revealed that the All England Club had forced him to change ahead of his second-round match.
Speaking out following his win, the tennis pro revealed the club had "refused" to let him wear the off-white jacket onto court as it contravened their strict all-white clothing policy for players.
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Taking to social media, Berrettini described his outfit was a “little brownish”, adding that Wimbledon “didn’t let me do it”.
It comes after the sportsman posted a promotional video of himself wearing the outfit to social media, with a distinctive beige Hugo Boss jacket taking centre stage.
The clothing issues came as Berrettini secured a 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Fils on Thursday to advance to the third round.
The Italian tennis star will now face Gregor Dimitrov in the fourth round.
“I got refused by Wimbledon,” Berrettini said after beating the 20th seed.
“It was not white enough. It was a little bit off-white.
“I posted about it. I did a shoot with that. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go on court with that.”
It comes after four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka arrived at Wimbledon on Wednesday wearing a distinctive Kimono-style jacket.
The belted Nike jacket caught the attention of crowds, with the Ivory design approved by Wimbledon.
“When I think about Wimbledon, it’s obviously the all white,” Osaka previously said of the policy.
“When I think about that, I think about my cultures, my heritage, which is Japanese and Haitian."