“Roger Federer wanted to be marketed,” Nike’s former director compares the contrasting sponsorship deals of Rafael Nadal and the Swiss maestro
Nike's former director says Rafael Nadal doesn’t care about Roger Federer’s record sponsorship deals.
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Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
Nike former Director Mike Nakajima says about why Roger Federer ended up getting more sponsorship deals compared to Rafael Nadal. Nike had been the official partner of the Swiss legend until 2018 but Rafael Nadal has never switched from Nike since the start of his career. Mike Nakajima opined about the personality difference between these superstars in the book ““The Roger Federer effect”.
This book got published in October 2022. It depicts the life and story of Roger Federer from the perspectives of his rivals, coaches, sponsors, and friends. The book that got published in the same year as his retirement year was an instant hit in terms of popularity. The authors of this book are Simon Cambers and Simon Graf.
As quoted by Nakajima about Federer, “He has great marketability. I saw him speak four languages in a single interview and switch languages just like that. People tend to gravitate towards somebody willing to share himself and be unbashful. He’s able to appeal to any audience. And people believe that he’s saying the truth, whatever Roger pitches. He’s that believable.“
The former Nike Director also talked about Nadal, “I’m not sure Rafa wants to be the highest-paid endorser in the world. I don’t think he cares. Rafa is Rafa, he has done extremely well and I don’t think he needs anything else. Roger wanted to be marketed, so he appealed to different brands, audiences, and consumer groups. And his management company’s done an amazing job.” (source: Express UK)
Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal – The battle for ages
The big 3 has been dominating the circuit for almost two decades, starting in 2004. Their iconic rivalry with each other has always taken center stage at the business end of all the most important tournaments. There was a time when Roger Federer was invincible and he was ruling the tennis courts all over the world. The peak he had between 2004 and 2007 still makes him relevant in the GOAT debate despite going below Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in most of the stats.
It seemed like Nadal was a secret project to take down Federer. He single-handedly stopped the dominance of the Swiss legend in the early years. The ‘Fedal’ rivalry took a new high when Federer finally defeated Nadal in a Grand slam match in the 2017 Australian Open final.
He had to wait for 10 years to finally beat Nadal in a slam match after the 2007 Wimbledon final and the first time he solved the Nadal puzzle outside a grass court on a slam match. Their head-to-head still favors Nadal 24-16 overall and 10-4 in slam matches but Federer coped up with Nadal during the final years and beat him in 2 out of their last 3 slam matches.
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Vipul Payattuparambil
(552 Articles Published)