Novak Djokovic's clothing sponsor, Lacoste, has publicly apologized for a technical error in their online store and for what tennis fans called a premature celebration.
The French luxury sports and fashion company accidentally released a tracksuit sewn with the number "25" on it for early sale to its American audience, commemorating Novak Djokovic's 25th Grand Slam title.
Now, this is not unusual for Lacoste to do. They previously manufactured the same gear to honor Djokovic's record-breaking Grand Slam wins by a male player at the 2023 Roland Garros with a custom-made tracksuit of "23," which the Serbian wore during the trophy presentation.
Then, at the US Open, the brand unveiled a white tracksuit with the number "24" to celebrate Djokovic's record-extending 24th major in New York last season.
Although the company has not lost track of the number of Grand Slams Djokovic won, it has already been working behind the scenes on releasing a new tracksuit to celebrate a 25th Grand Slam title win.
The 37-year-old has fallen short of winning a quarter of a century of major titles this year, losing to Jannik Sinner in the semifinal of the Australian Open and being forced to vacate the Roland Garros title after his withdrawal from this year's tournament a day following his fourth-round win over Francisco Cerundolo.
With Djokovic's participation at Wimbledon in doubt, the timing of Lacoste's release of his new gear was a complete gaffe. The company, which is renowned for its green crocodile logo, unveiled the $350 apparel, which consists of a fleece sweatsuit and pants, in its US online shop for sale.
However, they quickly realized their blunder and took it down before the CEO, Thierry Guibert, apologized on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) because of a technical hitch.
"I have to apologize about that. It was a mistake on our side due to IT issues."
Djokovic is out of action after knee surgery during the 2024 Roland Garros tournament. He wants to compete at Wimbledon, but time is not on his side, and a decision on his involvement at the grass-court major is expected soon.
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