Letting Roger Federer Leave Nike Was an ‘Atrocity,’ Says Former Tennis Director

When Roger Federer made the decision to hang up his tennis racket last year at the age of 41, he did so as one of the most influential figures to have played the game.

Federer was dominant on the court, winning 20 grand slam singles titles between 2003 and 2018 and spending a total of 310 weeks at the top of the men’s rankings during the course of his career.

Away from the court, the Swiss star proved eminently marketable, acquiring a lucrative sponsorship portfolio that made him one of the highest-paid athletes in the world. Even last year, when he didn’t play a single ATP Tour event, he was estimated by Forbes to have made pre-tax gross earnings of $90.7 million.

Federer’s marketability, specifically his long-standing sponsorship deal with sportswear giant Nike, is one aspect of the tennis star’s life and career explored in a new book, “The Roger Federer Effect.”

“Writing the book, we realized how enormous the impact Federer had, not just inside tennis, but outside it, too,” Simon Cambers, the book’s co-author, told CNN Sport’s Amanda Davies last month.

In the below extract from “The Roger Federer Effect,” Mike Nakajima, the former tennis director at Nike, explains what made Federer and Nike such a perfect match, saying that Nike could have done for Federer what it did for Michael Jordan.

‘He Knew He Was Going to be Great’

The prominent stakeholders in world tennis always rent houses near The All England Club during Wimbledon to hold meetings and welcome their athletes.

“There, athletes have a safe haven,” said Mike Nakajima, tennis director at Nike for 29 years. “They can come and hang around and nobody asks for pictures.”

Roger Federer felt very comfortable in the Nike house when he was young, happy to pop over, make himself a sandwich with ham and cheese and watch Wimbledon on TV. In 2016, as chance would have it, the Nike people on Arthur Road, on the other side of Wimbledon Park from The All England Club, were practically neighbors of the Federers.

“We had an indoor pool and we also had a tennis court in the back. It was a really bad one,” said Nakajima. “We ended up resurfacing the court because we wanted to stay at that house, we put the Nike swoosh on, and everything was pretty cool.”

The Nike house became the Federers’ second home during the Championships. Mirka (Federer’s wife) and one of the nannies went swimming with the kids and Roger played tennis with them.

“From my bedroom, I could see the tennis court,” said Nakajima. “So I saw Roger feeding balls to his kids. It was almost embarrassing to see Roger Federer, the greatest player, playing tennis on one of the worst tennis courts. Later, he told me one of the boys said: ‘Dad, can you get off the court so my brother and I can play?’ He was on the side and his little boys were playing together. I asked him: ‘Hey, Rog, when was the last time you got kicked off a court?’ He just smiled. He must be fun to be around for his kids.”

Nakajima worked with many stars at Nike, from John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova to Federer and Rafael Nadal. He even accompanied Williams as a shopping assistant (not his field of expertise). He first met Federer when Nike signed him as a 13-year-old.

“He was up-and-coming, one of the top juniors. We brought him on and I realized right off the bat that he’s naturally charismatic and speaks well. And I noticed that he knew he was going to be great.”

Federer’s success story also became a stroke of luck for Nike. After Sampras and Agassi, Federer turned out to be the next superstar of tennis. When Andy Roddick, under contract to competitor Reebok, won the US Open in 2003, Nakajima expected it might be the start of the next US wave in tennis. “But it didn’t happen. Europe became the hotbed of tennis, and Roger was the start of it.”

Nike set out to popularize Federer in the US. “I’m a little biased,” said Nakajima. “But no one does marketing better than Nike. When you get the big Nike marketing machine behind you, that can blow that athlete through the stratosphere.

“Roger would have been famous on his own for sure. Even if he was playing for any other brand. But he became a lot bigger because of Nike’s marketing machine. The exposure that Nike can provide to an athlete is amazing. Obviously, you have to have success on the court, which Roger had. He won a few US Opens; that opened many people’s eyes.”

The partnership with Nike soon expanded into new territories. “Roger got into fashion, meeting Anna Wintour of Vogue, doing photoshoots for GQ,” said Nakajima. Federer made Wimbledon, the holy grail of tennis, his catwalk. He walked there in an old-school cardigan, a white blazer or long white trousers. He also carried matching accessories.

In 2006, he wore a logo on the left breast pocket of his jacket with his last name; the following year, he wore his initials for the first time: RF. Federer was a pioneer in this respect. Later, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray also had their logos created.

The post Letting Roger Federer Leave Nike Was an ‘Atrocity,’ Says Former Tennis Director was originally published on CNN.