Tennis Prose




Jun/22

7

Are Corporate Sponsors Ignoring Iga?

Iga Swiatek is the dominant WTA world no. 1, winner of two Grand Slam titles and currently on a 35 match win streak but the 21 year old is not magnetizing a multitude of corporate sponsorships to suit her extraordinary results.

Świątek has been sponsored by Asics for clothing and shoes since the start of 2020 (she was previously sponsored by Nike). The popular Polish woman with the golden smile and pleasant personality, is also endorsed by the Red Bull energy drink company, Chinese tech giant Xiaomi and Japanese automaker Lexus.

In 2021, Świątek signed an endorsement deals with Rolex and Technifibre for racquets; she previously used Prince Textreme racquets (for her 2020 French Open win, without an official contract). Since February 2021, her main partner is PZU, a publicly traded insurance company based in Warsaw, Poland.

Iga became the world no. 1 player this year after Ash Barty suddenly retired. But so far, her management team hasn’t been as busy fielding endorsement offers and deals as one would expect. Maybe a Wimbledon title will change her fortunes.

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9 comments

  • catherine · June 7, 2022 at 2:47 pm

    Who is Iga’s agent ? Is she with a big company or something smaller ? Has IMG approached her ?

    We don’t really know the details of her endorsement activity. Presumably she left Nike for Asics because Asics offered more money – and Asics turned out the winner there.

    A Wimbledon title will certainly shift Iga into the category of Universal Appeal and out of provincial Poland so yes, we’d expect a shower of gold to follow.

  • catherine · June 8, 2022 at 4:14 pm

    Well – you can’t win. Get more endorsements like Raducanu, and let the disparagement begin. Too many photoshoots, too many interviews in glossies,too many sponsorships, too much publicity blah blah blah…..Judy Murray now has stuck her nose into the ‘it’s all Emma’s fault’ campaign. Disgraceful.

    BTW – according to a scan following her retirement at Nottingham she has no injury so it was most likely a stress spasm. Maybe Emma should start travelling with a psychologist.
    Made all the difference to Swiatek.

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 8, 2022 at 5:22 pm

    Catherine, If Federer or Nadal won the US Open intheir first Grand Slam without a wildcard, they might never have won any more with all the media chaos sensation such a miracle would have triggered. Nobody can imagine what it’s like being in her shoes. Her life and career changed overnight she went from school girl to queen of tennis overnight. And I don’t think any of the other wta girls were too happy about it. What did Judy Murray say?

  • catherine · June 9, 2022 at 2:45 am

    Judy Murray talked about sponsorship etc for a column she writes in a Scottish paper and some of her comments were clearly aimed at Raducanu, re the pressures of sponsors etc, but actually Emma hasn’t done that much cf Naomi, for example, it’s just that, being photogenic and a bit exotic, she’s extra visible. So she’s an easy target.

    You’re right about the pressure in general of her USO win. And looking to Wimbledon, perhaps no one outside UK can understand the unbearable pressure she’s going to be under there. And I wouldn’t put it past the AELTC putting her on the Centre Court to open because Barty won’t be available. .

    Emma’s an introverted, sensitive person – in her junior career she was apparently known for retirements. I can see parallels with Andreescu but I think Emma is potentially the better player. Certainly a sports psychologist should join her team asap.

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 9, 2022 at 9:19 am

    Under all this scrutiny and the pressure, Raducanu will be lucky to reach the 3R at Wimbledon. Hope she proves me a fool though and goes all the way and silences her critics, fanagers and armchair advisors.

  • catherine · June 10, 2022 at 6:17 am

    Putting Emma’s injuries into perspective:

    https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2022/jun/10/emma-raducanu-focus-on-long-term-pursuit-of-glory-as-injuries-take-toll-tennis

    Article goes on to suggest she has a physio with her all the time.

    Steffi Graf was actually injury/illness prone throughout her career which lead to her retirement. Her build resembled Emma’s in that she was tall and slim. Of course many of Steffi’s matches tended to be on the short side which helped a bit.

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 10, 2022 at 8:08 am

    Some say she is overtraining doing too many punishing drills and exercises with heavy weights, I saw one video and it was shocking the weight she was pushing with her hips. Also every injury gives her an excuse for losing. Remember what the former ATP champion said, “Players fabricate injuries to protect the ego.”

  • catherine · June 10, 2022 at 9:06 am

    Scoop – I think this article puts to bed any idea that Raducanu is ‘fabricating’ injuries. Why would she do that ? It’s obviously a problem which has been with her since she began playing juniors. I think she’d much rather win titles than look for excuses. And it’s not as though she hasn’t got alternatives if tennis doesn’t work out. She could walk into a good job tomorrow.

    Some players are injury prone. To accuse Emma of making up injuries (ie ‘cheating’) at 19 years old and less than a year playing professionally is unfair and unrealistic. Maybe she needs different physio advice and a different program, outside the LTA. That’s very likely.

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 10, 2022 at 9:39 am

    Not accusing, just saying it’s possible, based on that quote. She was perfectly healthy for ten US Open matches last year as an underdog, now she’s expected to win so it’s a different pressure. After seeing Nadal’s foot and rib injury charades, winning the French Open and then two days later he can’t even walk without crutches, “believe zero of what you read and hear and only half of what you see.”

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