REPORT: Maria Sharapova ‘Expecting’ 20-Year Deal With Nike To End - UBITENNIS
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REPORT: Maria Sharapova ‘Expecting’ 20-Year Deal With Nike To End

After a turbulent season that was ended by injury, the Russian is reportedly on the verge of losing one of her biggest sponsors.

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Former world No.1 Maria Sharapova has admitted that her long-term deal with Nike is set to end later this year, according to a report by The Sun Newspaper.

 

It has been claimed by the British tabloid that Sharapova has told close friends that she believes the sporting brand will not renew her contract when it expires. Sharapova has been signed with the company since the age of 11 and the deal is estimated to be worth $10 million a year.

Nike has been loyal supporters of Sharapova throughout her entire career. During her 15-month doping suspension after testing positive for meldonium, the company chose to stand by the Russian. Sharapova has insisted that she never deliberately took the substance to enhance her performance. Meldonium was added to the list of prohibited substances by the World Anti-Doping Agency at the start of 2016. During her suspension, she was also able to maintain ties with Porsche, Evian, HEAD and NetJets.

The most recent deal Sharapova struck with Nike was back in 2010. An eight-year contract reportedly worth $70 million with the 31-year-old also receiving a cut from the sales of her own branded clothes.

According to findings by American financial news website The Street, Sharapova’s business net worth has been valued as high as $195 million. Although this figure is disputed by some sources. In 2016 Forbes magazine ranked her 88th in the list of the highest paid athletes in the world. Since then, she has fallen outside the top 100.

Once dubbed as the most marketable female athlete in the world, Sharapova’s has been yet to regain her best form since returning for her doping ban. Winning just one title at the 2017 Tianjin Open in China. Within that time period she has defeated three top 10 players (Jelena Ostapenko twice, Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova), but is yet to break back into the world’s top 20.

Sharapova has ended her 2018 season early due to a shoulder injury. Winning 20 out of 31 matches played.

There has been no comment from Sharapova’s team in regards to the speculation over the future of her Nike deal.

UPDATE: 20:00 GMT

Sharapova’s agent Max Eisenbud has now dismissed the claims made by The Sun newspaper, according to website tennis.life. In a statement he has claimed that Sharapova has a ‘lifetime’ deal with Nike.

“It’s just incredible how a publication can make up lies and not be held accountable. Even worse is how other publications run with the story as if it is fact. It’s a huge issue,” Eisenbud said.

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Is Iga Swiatek On Her Way To Becoming A Roland Garros Legend?

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Rafa Nadal couldn’t have done it better.

 

There was Iga Swiatek dominating another top 10 opponent on the court Rafa loves so much, while her favourite player is still sidelined by hip surgery and expects his legendary career to come to a close next year.

Indeed, Swiatek may be on her way to becoming a legend herself on Court Philippe Chatrier at the French Open. The Polish Wonder already owns two titles at Roland Garros and is in line to possibly win two more matches there over the next three days for a third French title.

Of course, that’s a long way from the number of titles Nadal has won in the Paris Grand Slam. Fourteen titles sound like an out-of-reach dream for anyone to capture at the same Grand Slam, even the 22-year-old Swiatek.

SWIATEK ON HER GAME

The top-ranked Swiatek was on her game in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, starting strong and then winning nine of the last 12 games against young Coco Gauff in a 6-4, 6-2 win over last year’s runner-up.

Gauff played her usual aggressive game, but at times appeared to go for too much too often. She appeared to overpower Swiatek at times with her big serve, but only on first serves. Otherwise, the 19-year-old American didn’t seem to have her weapons under control much of the match.

IGA ALWAYS APPEARS TO BE READY

No one in the women’s game anticipates better than Swiatek. She always appears to be ready for the next shot.

Opponents can never count Iga out. And allowing her to get ahead in a match is almost like turning over the controls to Swiatek, who already owns three Grand Slam titles and has now advanced to the semifinals in four of her last six Grand Slams.

Swiatek jumped out to a 3-1 lead against the sixth-ranked Gauff, then dropped a pair of games before taking full charge of the match.

James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com. 

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Casper Ruud Topples Rune To Reach French Open Semis

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Casper Ruud came out on top in his all-Scandinavian clash with Holger Rune to seal his place in the semi-finals of the French Open. 

 

Ruud, who is seeded fourth in the draw, battled to a 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, win over his Danish opponent in what was a topsy-turvy encounter on the Philippe Chatrier Court. It is the second year in a row that the Norwegian has defeated Rune in the last eight of Roland Garros and he now leads their head-to-head 6-1. He is through to the last four of a major for only the third time in his career. 

“I’m very relieved. I came into this match trying to not play with pressure but it is not easy when you’re playing a big match against Holger who is never easy,” Rune said during his post-match interview. “He is very aggressive. Luckily for me the first two sets he wasn’t feeling it too well. He made a lot of errors and I got a lot of points for free.’
“That helped settle my nerves but he fought back in the third set. In the fourth set, I was lucky to keep that break.”

The highly anticipated nighttime clash began in one-way fashion with Ruud claiming 12 out of the first 15 games with relative ease as an erratic Rune struggled to find his game on the court, hitting a total of 40 unforced errors during the first two sets. 

It wasn’t until the third frame that Ruud finally faced some resistance on the court as his opponent orchestrated the crowd to get behind him. Prompting the 20-year-old to hit a series of impressive shots to revive his hopes.

However, Rune’s comeback was short-lived as Ruud broke once more midway through the fourth set as he moved to a game away from victory. He earned his first match point at 5-2 following a double fault from his rival but failed to convert. Two more opportunities then came and went for Ruud before he managed to serve the match out in the following game.

“I think I did well,” he replied when asked about how he handled his nerves. “I kind of looked at it (the match) as if he was the favourite. He won the last time we played and he has had a better year than me so far.’
“He was hoping to get into his first (Grand Slam) semi-final and I was hungry to get into another semi-final. Luckily it worked out well for me.”

Awaiting the 24-year-old in the semi-finals on Friday will be Alexander Zverev who defeated Tomás Martín Etcheverry in four sets. He trails their head-to-head 1-2 but they have never faced each other on clay. 

“Ruud has been there before. He was in the final here last year, so he knows exactly what it means and what it takes,” Zverev told reporters.  

Ruud is now 16-5 this season when it comes to playing matches on the clay. Since the start of 2020, he has registered 86 wins on the surface which is more than any other player on the ATP Tour.

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Alexander Zverev Reaches French Open Semis 12 Months After Horrific Injury

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Alexander Zverev says there is still work to be done at the French Open after sealing his place in the semi-finals of the tournament on Wednesday. 

 

The world No.27 battled to a hard-fought 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, win over Argentine underdog Tomas Martin Etcheverry in a match that featured numerous lengthy rallies. After dropping the second set, Zverev then had to bounce back from a break down at the start of the third before restoring his lead. Overall, he hit 45 winners to 44 unforced errors and converted five out of 11 break point opportunities. 

“I’m happy to be in a semifinal of a Grand Slam any time that I’m there but for me, the tournament is not over,” Zverev said during his press conference.
“I’m happy to be here, but I know that hopefully I have two more matches ahead, and they’re not going to get easier.”

It is the third consecutive season that Zverev has reached the last four at Roland Garros and the sixth time he has done so at a Grand Slam so far in his career. He has now won 13 consecutive matches against players ranked outside of the top 20 at the French Open. 

Unlike his previous Grand Slam runs, this one is perhaps more sweeter for the German considering what he has been through over the past year. At the clay court major in 2022, he took on Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals where he suffered a severe ankle injury that ended up sidelining him from competition for seven months.

“I couldn’t play for the first seven months of my injury. Then for the next three, four months, I was still in pain. I wasn’t able to move the way I wanted to.” Zverev recounted.
“I think I’m at a stage now where I’m not thinking about the injury so much anymore. I’m not thinking about what happened. I’m just happy to be back where I was last year, and I have another chance. Hopefully I can take it.”

Despite his credentials, Zverev has only featured in the final of a major tournament once before. That was at the 2020 US Open where he led Dominic Thiem by two sets to love before losing the match in five. 

His record is a stark contrast to that on the ATP Tour where he has reached 30 finals, winning 19 titles. His collection includes two ATP Finals trophies, a gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics and five Masters 1000 crowns.

“Grand Slams are tennis history. That’s what you play for. I think the two most important things in tennis are Grand Slams and the Olympic Games.” He said.
“When you are in a semifinal or final of either of those, I think that’s very different from being in a final of another tournament.”

Zverev is aiming to become the first German man to reach a French Open final since Michael Stich in 1996. 

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