Ex-ATP Pro Explains Why Emma Raducanu’s Uniqlo Deal After Nike Split Makes ‘Lot of Sense’

Emma Raducanu will next be seen in action at Indian Wells, where she will be hoping to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.

Ex-ATP Pro Explains Why Emma Raducanu’s Uniqlo Deal After Nike Split Makes ‘Lot of Sense’

Emma Raducanu (via X/Citi Open)

In Short
  • Emma Raducanu has signed a multi-million dollar deal with Uniqlo after ending her partnership with Nike.
  • She is the first female tennis player to represent Uniqlo, a brand previously associated with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
  • Raducanu will debut her Uniqlo outfit at the Indian Wells tournament, aiming to improve her performance after recent struggles.

Emma Raducanu became the latest tennis player to end her partnership with Nike. She has signed a multi-million dollar deal with Uniqlo, once again proving that she still can attract big brands despite struggling on the tour.

Nike had been Raducanu’s apparel sponsor since she was 15. Now she has become the first female tennis player to become the face of the Japanese brand, which has sponsored Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

The first tournament that Raducanu will be playing in an Uniqlo outfit will be the Indian Wells, the first WTA 1000 of the Sunshine Doubles, where she reached the fourth round in 2023. Raducanu’s compatriot and former ATP player Greg Rusedski explained why the deal with the WTA ace makes sense for Uniqlo.

The deal probably makes a lot of sense for them because they look for brand ambassadors, and they look for Instagram followers, they look to TikTok to all those things in social media. So I think the deal is not only on court, but it will be off court as well. So that makes sense. And your contracts are not always based on your tennis ranking. They’re also based on your followers, so they’re looking at it as a business point of view. They’re taking a punt that they’re hoping she gets back in the top 10, can start competing for slams again, and win one, that would be the ultimate.

Greg Rusedski said during the Off Court with Greg podcast

The 2021 US Open champion is a former top 10 player, reaching her career-best ranking in June 2022. The 23-year-old recently played her career’s second final at the Winners Open, losing the match to Sorana Cirstea.

Emma Raducanu will work with Alexis Canter at Indian Wells

After she was unveiled as the brand ambassador for Uniqlo, Emma Raducanu sat for an interview with The Guardian during which she revealed that she is not actively looking for a coach following her split with Rafael Nadal‘s former coach, Francisco Roig. She will be going to Indian Wells with former ATP pro Alexis Canter.

Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu (Image via X/Emma Raducanu Fan)

Right now, I have Alexis in my corner. He knows me as a person. He knows me as a player. And I’ve actually had some success with him in the past year in Washington and Cluj…so it’s going well. I know the drills that I need to be doing right now in this moment in time…just repetition of doing those key fundamentals. I think I want to go back to that and [develop] a more aggressive style of playing.

Last year at Indian Wells, Raducanu crashed out in the first round. She, in fact, has made the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 event just once, in last year’s Miami Open, where she lost to Jessica Pegula in three sets. It was the first time Raducanu won four consecutive matches in a tournament since her fairytale run at the 2021 US Open.

Raducanu said the reason she couldn’t play her best tennis during the Middle East Swing was that she “picked up like a virus” while competing in Cluj, and is hoping to recover completely before the third WTA 1000 event of the season. At the Qatar Open, Camila Osorio knocked her out in the first round, while at the Dubai Open, Antonia Ruzic eliminated her in the second round.

The tournament that Raducanu is “incredibly excited” to play is Wimbledon. It’s the only Grand Slam event after the 2021 US Open where she has made the fourth round, reaching the stage twice, in 2021 and 2024. Last year, her run ended in the third round.

Also read: Stefanos Tsitsipas Restarts Feud With Former Coach Goran Ivanisevic: “I Regret Certain Decisions”