Roger Federer's career has been full of memorable successes and triumphs, making him an icon of modern sport and one of the best tennis players of all time. The popularity achieved by the Swiss legend is unparalleled in the world of tennis and it is safe to say that his influence has transcended tennis, as evidenced by the affection he receives from fans even today despite having retired for more than three years.
However, King Roger's long journey in professional tennis has also experienced some difficult chapters. Most fans certainly remember the end of the partnership between the 20-time Grand Slam champion and his historic sponsor Nike, before the former world number 1 signed a new agreement with Uniqlo.
Federer left Nike in 2018
The collaboration between Federer and Nike ended in 2018, despite the fact that he had shown that he could still win Grand Slam titles and was among the best players in the world at that time. The former Basel champion gave a new impetus to his career in 2017 thanks to the help of Ivan Ljubicic, who sorted out some details of his game and allowed him to remain competitive until the beginning of 2020 (then the Swiss suffered a serious knee injury that affected the last phase of his career).
ADVERTISEMENT
On the latest edition of the podcast hosted by Andy Roddick, Tony Godsick Federer's manager recounted in detail the vicissitudes that led to the end of the partnership between Roger and Nike: "I personally went to Nike's headquarters at the beginning of 2017 to try to get a new contract. Roger hadn't won a Grand Slam title in more than four years, but he would win the Australian Open just a couple of weeks later.
I thought it would be easier to reach an agreement with them, but it wasn't like that. It wasn't Roger who left Nike, but Nike abandoned him. I must confess that I was very angry at that moment, because it seemed absurd to me that the contract of the best player in the history of tennis was not renewed."
