In Praise Of Roger Federer’s Winning Off-Court Style

Much has been said about Roger Federer’s game. That his style of tennis is akin to ballet, full of grace and elegance. That his strokes and movement are effortless. You never see him in a huff or panic. He glides through the court as though he were as light as a feather. So much has been said indeed that one cannot compete with the essay Roger Federer as a Religious Experience written by the late David Foster Wallace for the New York Times, that greatly and admiringly lauded Federer’s skill and talent.

So let’s talk about Federer’s off court style then. His close friendship with Vogue editor Anna Wintour may be credited for the dashing figure he cuts when he is not wielding a tennis racket. All those seasons sitting front row at fashion shows in New York and Paris next to Wintour may have helped informed his personal style.

He can work a suit in a many ways. He can do tone-on-tone with a turtleneck sweater instead of a shirt or he can pair an impeccably cut suit with white trainers as he did so when he appeared at Wimbledon’s Centre Court this year for the parade of champions. He has flirted with trends as when he pushed up the sleeves of his grey suit at a Dior show in Paris, a look that was for a brief time, all the rage among fashionable men.

He rivals James Bond when it comes to tuxedo dressing. He is able to pull off both the classic tuxedo look and more unconventional versions like a double breasted jacket with an open shirt sans bowtie or a Gucci tuxedo with a bejewelled serpent on the back like the one he wore for the Met Gala. For the wedding of Pippa Middleton and James Matthews in 2017, Federer looked like the epitome of a modern gentlemen with his morning suit, tails and all, hand in hand with his wife Mirka. But he is most striking when he wears a tuxedo in its truest and most classic form. You only have to see photos of him and Rafael Nadal at the gala night of the 2022 Laver Cup, which was also the occasion for Federer’s tennis farewell, as proof of his swagger.

His sartorial repertoire is not all Savile Row and Italian tailoring however. He can rock a leather jacket with jeans or a casual sweater over a button down shirt. Federer is in fact so stylish that he made the covers of GQ, Town & Country, WSJ. Magazine and the now defunct Men’s Vogue, which all lauded his impeccable style.

Federer has played his final competitive match but the courts of fashion and style will surely see more of the great champion.