After twenty-six years, the Wimbledon warm-up tournament, the Gerry Weber Open will have a new title sponsor Noventi.  The tournament will be called the Noventi Open.

The ATP 500 tournament has been on the ATP calendar since 1993.  The Weber, clothing manufacturer for whom the tournament is named, and his partner, Udo Hardieck took a big chance at the time going against the established Queen’s tournament held at the same time in London.

Unfortunately, Gerry Weber AG has not done well during the past decade. In recent years, rumors of shaky finances began to be heard in the press, and at the same time, Weber’s health took a turn for the worse. All of these circumstances led to the financial collapse of the once profitable company.

That’s when Noventi stepped in and took over.  The tournament has featured Roger Federer for almost 2 decades and the Maestro has a lifetime contract with the tournament.

According to Forbes, Roger Federer has  86 million reasons to continue playing tennis. Federer placed fifth among all athletes on the money list. The standings were topped by soccer player Lionel Messi, who earned $127 million.

Only 5 tennis players earned more than $25 million in 2018.

Federer earned a total of $93.4 in 2018, with $86 million coming from endorsements and the rest coming from on-court earnings.  His off-court income was considerably boosted by his new sponsorship with Uniqlo which reportedly earns him $30 million a year. Federer’s endorsement earnings were $65 million in 2017.

Novak Djokovic earned a total of $50.6 million with only $30 million coming from endorsements.  Djokovic’s biggest sponsor is Lacoste.

To me, the surprise on that list is Kei Nishikori.  The Japanese star earned  $37.3 million with $33 million coming from off court earnings. Nishikori makes more money in endorsements than Djokovic.  Let that sink in for a moment. Nishikori is very popular in Japan and brands have rushed to sign him up.

Rafael Nadal earned $35 million with $26 million coming from endorsements.

Serena Williams earned 29.2 million, of which $25 million came from endorsements.