the tennis player annoyed by the controversy – Corriere.it

It had never happened in the history of Wimbledon that a tennis player was allowed to bring a luxury bag, more suited to the first-class hatbox of an airline flight than the most famous grass tournament in the world, instead of the traditional racket bag. Here because Jannik Sinner raised more than one eyebrow in the London temple of tennis — where a very strict dress code is in force and total white is sacred — presenting on the Centrale with a customized canvas bag, with leather trim and Gucci’s “GG” monogram, for the which he had to ask for special authorization from the ATP and the Wimbledon organizers.

“The bag? It’s new, but it’s not like this bag makes me play better or worse – specified the South Tyrolean in the press conference after the passage of the second round -. It’s certainly not about changing rackets or shoes, things that can affect my game, otherwise I wouldn’t have made this choice. I’m very honest and the priority is always to play tennis.” Generally always very calm, on this occasion Sinner, on the other hand, appeared rather annoyed by the controversy that arose over the famous bag, who overshadowed the victory against Diego Schwartzman. Just the Argentine tennis player, on the eve of their match, had joked with his friend, asking him for a bag for him too.

But it is on the Net that the irony is really unleashed. «An elegance like this has been missing since the days of Holger Rune, who entered the US Open with an Ikea bag», wrote a fan, recalling the 20-year-old Dane’s debut in a Grand Slam tournament in 2021, with a plastic bag from Ikea. Provocation instantly collected by Rune himself who, in addition to re-sharing the post, launched a social survey. «What is your favorite bag?», He wrote in support of a photomontage with his bag and the much more expensive one of Sinner.

«This bag is the result of a project that I carried out with the Gucci family – explained the 21-year-old Italian in an email to New York Times, who dedicated an article to the topic —. I wanted it to be comfortable to carry and have enough space to fit all my stuff. My priority was functionality». In any case, the accessory made – despite itself – history.