It appears as though Roger Federer's special orange-soled Nike shoes that were unveiled at Wimbledon will be retired with just 69 minutes of on-court use.
Federer, who won his first-round match against Victor Hanescu in that amount of time, has been asked by Wimbledon officials to not wear the shoes, ESPN.com has confirmed. The story was first reported by the Daily Mail.
Although Wimbledon has an all-white dress code, color on shoes falls into a gray area. Players have, from time-to-time, worn white shoes with spots of color on them without attracting the ire of the All England Club.
On Tuesday, for example, Kevin Anderson beat Oliver Rochus in his first-round match, wearing white shoes with green Lotto logos on them. Besides the orange bottoms, Federer's shoes are virtually all white, save for a gray swoosh and a small gray "RF" logo.
A Wimbledon spokesperson confirmed Monday that Federer was one of "a few players with minor infringements who were advised to make changes for the next round."
The orange soles are a special version of its Zoom Vapor shoes made for Federer, who has won seven of his past 10 men's singles titles at the All England Club. The neon orange color on the shoe bottoms match the color of the swoosh on his shirt and his headband.
A Nike spokesman declined to comment, but the world's largest shoe and apparel company knew they were taking a risk. A news release published on Monday called attention to Federer "making a bold style statement in London."
The shoes were sold in limited edition on Monday for $140 on Nike.com. The shoes already have sold out.
Federer, the No. 3 seed, will face Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round on Centre Court on Wednesday afternoon.