Why activewear brands throw eye-watering money at tennis stars in an effort to boost sales

Nike? Adidas? New Balance? How fitness high fashion brands are battling it out to fit the world’s best tennis players, with eye-watering money being thrown at the sport’s superstars.

Brands are shelling out big money to sponsor Australian Open players.

Nike and Adidas are neck-and-neck in the race to outfit the world’s best tennis players with eye-watering money being thrown at the sport’s superstars to be the faces of fitness high fashion.

For the active wear giants there is no bigger stage to showcase their latest and greatest products than the first grand slam of the year and the professional tennis runway is as competitive as ever.

Of the 64 seeded male and female players at this year’s Australian Open, 15 are sponsored by Nike and 12 by Adidas.

Jannik Sinner gave Nike his tick of approval when he signed a 10-year, USD$150m deal back in 2022 which now looks like a bargain for the ‘Swoosh’ following the Italian’s dual grand slam successes and meteoric rise to world No.1 last year.

Alexander Zverev is a favourite to win the title. Picture: Mark Stewart

Sinner and world No.3 Carlos Alcaraz are set to be the faces of tennis for the next decade and Nike has smartly locked away both men long-term, with the Spaniard netting his own $20m-per-yer deal last June.

And it does not stop there for Nike, which also owns the rights to seeded stars Holger Rune, Jack Draper, Karen Khachanov, Sebastian Korda and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

German giant Adidas remains the world No.2 in the tennis fashion rankings and – fittingly – owns the services of countryman Alexander Zverev.

Zverev, though not yet a grand slam champion, is the No.2 seed at Melbourne Park and one of the favourites to win the title.

He headlines a star-studded stable that includes Grigor Dimitrov, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Hubert Hurkacz, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Francisco Cerundolo.

But while Nike and Adidas throw their millions into the male tennis pool there is still plenty of value to be found near the top of the tour rankings.

Lacoste might owe much of its sales Down Under to 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, who has donned the crocodile since swapping from Uniqlo in 2017.

The French manufacturer could barely believe its luck when Daniil Medvedev, who signed with the brand in 2019, squared off in the final at Melbourne Park with Djokovic in 2021.

Aussie Alex de Minaur isn’t one to make a big fashion statement – although did raise eyebrows with his “farmer” outfit during a Esquire magazine photo shoot recently – but on court is more traditional and is one of just two men who wear Asics clothing.

Big-hitting American Frances Tiafoe was the talk of the 2023 Australian Open when he debuted a psychedelic Nike singlet that captured the eye and divided opinion in what was a marketing ace for the mega brand.

And so it was big news in fitness fashion last week when the world No.18 announced he had left Nike to sign with rising athleisure industry agitator Lululemon for the 2025 season.

The news of his Lululemon defection came just days after Tiafoe and Mpetshi Perricard traded blows at the Brisbane International wearing identical Nike black and blue camouflage print.

And that wasn’t the first time an American had walked out on Nike. In March last year Taylor Fritz made waves when he ended their eight-year partnership to become the face of Hugo BOSS.

World No.4 Fritz is the first and only BOSS sponsored tennis player – a nod to quality over quantity from the luxury fashion brand.

Alex de Minaur as part of an Esquire Australia photo shoot.

Aussie ace Alexei Popyrin took FILA all the way to the top when he won the Montreal Masters 1000 last year to break into the world top-30.

But on the eve of the Australian Open the 25-year-old announced he had signed with menswear brand Psycho Bunny as its first tennis ambassador.

For some it is not all about the money.

In 2023, fan-favourite Andrey Rublev launched his own clothing line – Rublo – announcing 100 per cent of the proceeds would go toward supporting underprivileged children.

And rising star Tomas Machac, who faced Djokovic in the third round on Friday, has become famous for his JOMA brand short shorts that hark back to the heyday of Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.

It’s all about comfort for the Czech.

Less so for women’s world No.3 Coco Gauff, who gave fans a peek behind the curtain of the outfitting process following her first round win over Sofia Kenin earlier this week.

“I’m a huge Marvel fan – a lot of the female superheroes have cool cut-outs on their outfits, so that’s what I wanted to do,” she said of her custom New Balance kit.

“It’s actually kind of a pain to get into, because it’s a bodysuit kind, so I have to put the bottom on first and then kind of pull it over my head. It’s kind of a struggle and if you can’t hold your bladder, it’s also not a good idea.

“A couple of times I’ve had to ask the referee to help unzip it at the back. But it’s all in the face of fashion and hopefully we have some cool designs for you guys.”

Gauff has surpassed Naomi Osaka as the biggest brand-get in women’s tennis and the 20-year-old continued to wow crowds with her electric yellow dress in the second round.

New Balance would be rubbing its hands together with glee having cut ahead of Nike and Adidas for the prized signature of the 2023 US Open champion and Gauff’s face has been everywhere this summer.

World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka has exclusively worn Nike since the start of her career and is one of eight top-32 women’s players to don the Swoosh, alongside Qinwen Zheng, Paula Badosa, Anna Kalinskaya, Mirra Andreeva, Madison Keys, Victoria Azarenka and Katie Boulter.

But this week Sabalenka hinted there could be change afoot, after splitting from her commercial partner, IMG, to sign with Osaka’s personal agency EVOLVE.

“I was looking for building my brand. (I) kind of wanted a little bit more than IMG was serving for me. I wasn’t happy with the service,” Sabalenka said.

“I’m happy that I was able to finish that chapter of my life. I’m glad with the new beginning. I hope to build something bigger than just the momentum deals.”

Iga Swiatek dropped Nike for Asics. Picture: Michael Klein

Though Sabalenka has undoubtedly been the best female tennis player on the planet over the past two years, her 2024 off-court earnings were only good for fourth-best on the WTA tour.

Gauff, world No.2 Iga Swiatek and two-time Australian Open champion Osaka all earned more from endorsement deals than Sabalenka last year.

Nike will forever rue dropping the ball with Swiatek, who was partnered with the brand until the start of 2020.

Rumour has it Nike would not provide kit for the rest of Swiatek’s team and so the Polish superstar dropped the brand cold and moved to Asics.

Later that year she won her first grand slam title at Roland Garros and is now a five-time major champion – whoops.

When Nike returned to the table with a new deal, Swiatek said thanks but no thanks.

The 23-year-old is now kitted head to toe by the Roger Federer-backed Swiss brand On.

Meanwhile Asics struck gold on its investment in Jasmine Paolini.

The Japanese brand first partnered with Paolini in 2015 when she was ranked outside the top-200 but after a stunning career-best campaign at age 28, the Italian is now the No.4 player in the world.

In the cutthroat world of professional tennis sometimes the biggest battles and wins are now coming off the court.

Originally published as Why activewear brands throw eye-watering money at tennis stars in an effort to boost sales