Reilly Opelka questions Nike’s ‘performance requirements’ after the brand terminated its contract with Andrey Rublev
American player Reilly Opelka countered the contract basis of Nike citing Andrey Rublev.
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Reilly Opelka, Andrey Rublev
American tennis player Riley Opelka pointed out the flaw in the recently outlined contract basis of Nike. The sportswear manufacturer terminated its contracts with some players including Andrey Rublev citing the poor earnings and performance of these players. Interestingly though, Rublev remains World No. 8 and one of the busiest on the Tour.
Other players whose contracts were terminated include 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens, Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, and 2019 French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova among others. The exclusion of Rublev contradicts the ‘performance requirements’ of Nike. Opelka was quick to point this out through his post on Twitter.
The information regarding the contracts was shared by Relevant Tennis on Twitter. “Nike included major reductions in its contracts. Players now have to meet certain performance requirements – such as ranking position or tournament entries – to earn money. An agent said that players outside the top 20 wearing Nike ‘are not making any money’,” the post said.
Opelka countered this with his logical point. “Rublev is top 8 in the world tho.. also plays every single week,” he wrote with a confused emoji. Opelka could not find out any reason for Nike to terminate its contract with Rublev based on the performance requirements.
Related: Andrey Rublev opens up on his battle with depression and desire to make ‘Our planet a better place’
Fans react to the tweet of Reilly Opelka on Nike and Rublev
Social media users too came to support Reilly Opelka questioning the new contracts of Nike. They too were amused by the decision. Some even related to the nationality of Rublev behind the decision.
“Is it because he is Russian,” one the user wrote. “He is a very nice and funny guy,” another wrote. Here are some other interesting tweets.
In other news related to Rublev, the Russian player launched his own brand ‘Rublo’ recently. “We have been working on something important and close to me. And we would like to share with you something that can be bigger than just a brand, something that can help people, and the planet,” Rublev said before the launch.
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Abhinavendu Singh
(290 Articles Published)