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Roger Federer, who has astonished and amused at Wimbledon crowds in recent years by stepping on to court in a white blazer, intends to wear a herringbone-patterned cardigan at this year's finals.

Announced yesterday by his sponsor, Nike, the designer, of the garment, apparently spent many hours in the Wimbledon museum and used British manufacturers for “a truly British connection”. It is odd, too, see an American firm employing a Swiss man to capture British sporting heritage, but quite understandable when our only marketable star is Andy Murray, a man with the elegance of Stig of the Dump.

Tennis clothing has long been fashionable in a way that football strips could never be. There is an historical association that dates back to Fred Perry, and an even stronger modern connection that has brought female players such as Maria Sharapova on to the catwalk.

Federer's new cardigan, with its herringbone pattern, is in that same tradition, though I fear it veers into farce. The inscription on the five buttons refers to his five victories: a self-congratulatory refrain that is deeply unattractive in a tennis player.

Rafael Nadal must be outraged, in a competitive sense, and at least in a straightforward fashion sense, for the Spaniard's style centres on trendy Bermuda-length shorts. The cardigan has been considered extremely cool - but that was two years ago. If Federer wins again, it will be even more dated, for they will have to redesign the motif on the five buttons, and somehow find room for a sixth.