Andy’s Reads: Almagro’s Retirement and Novak Has Some Supporters

Nicolas Almagro, one of the best clay court players in the Rafael Nadal era retires.  His single handed backhand was one to admire.  Here are 70 of his best backhands (Youtube)

Gunter Bresnik steps back from coaching Dominic Thiem. Nicholas Massu to be new coach (h/t Kamakshi_Tandon)

Cici Bellis opens up on her struggles with injuries (WTA)

In a rare move, Nike allows Naomi Osaka to wear two patches on her clothing (Tennis)

Novak Djokovic got slammed after ATP CEO Chris Kermode’s contract was not renewed.  But he does have some supporters (Metro UK)

Nike has stopped selling “RF” logo clothing.  Looks like Roger Federer is about to get his logo back (SportsPro)

Andy Murray is back on the tennis court and he is pain-free (CNN)

Denis Shapovalov goes back to his old coach Adriano Fuorivia (Tennis.life)

Here is your helpful guide on how to queue for Wimbledon tickets (perfect-tennis)

Inside Bibi Andreescu’s best week of her career (ESPN)

 

 

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Osaka leaves Adidas to sign with Nike

With two consecutive grand slams under her belt, big sponsors are circling Naomi Osaka.  Osaka has signed a new deal with Nike.  Though her contract with Adidas expired at the end of 2018, she continued to wear Adidas gear while talking to Nike, Uniqlo, and others.

For a time, Osaka was reportedly negotiating an $8.5M a year deal with Adidas.  We can only conclude that Nike offered more than that.

With the summer Olympics 2020 in Tokyo, sponsors will get plenty of publicity by signing up Osaka. Since winning the US Open, she has now signed with 6 new sponsors including Nike. Her other sponsors include Nissan Motor Co., Shiseido and Nissin Foods.

“I’m proud to become a member of the Nike family and excited about getting involved in all of the opportunities Nike has to offer,” says Osaka. “Nike has a legendary track record of writing history and I look forward to being a part of those moments for many years to come.”

The 21-year-old Japanese scheduled to wear Nike gear for the first time later this month at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix tournament in Stuttgart, Germany.

Osaka is represented by Stuart Duguid with IMG.

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