Former tennis director at Nike, Mike Nakajima, believes Rafael Nadal never really wanted to reach the marketing heights that Roger Federer reached. Per Forbes, Federer earned $90 from his sponsorship and marketing deals last year, while Nadal collected around $25 million.
Just like Federer, Nadal has always enjoyed a strong reputation and is considered one of the most likable players in tennis history. But when it comes to marketability, Federer was always far ahead of Nadal. “I’m not sure Rafa wants to be the highest-paid endorser in the world.
I don’t think he cares. Rafa is Rafa, he has done extremely well and I don’t think he needs anything else. Roger wanted to be marketed, so he appealed to different brands, audiences and consumer groups. And his management company’s done an amazing job,” Nakajima told CNN.
Nakajima: Federer and Nadal are very similar personalities
Off the court, Nakajima found Federer and Nadal to be similar personalities. But on the court, Nakajima found them “completely different” as Federer was a very calm and collected player, while Nadal alwayed showed lots of emotion and reaction.
“Roger and Rafa, they’re very similar personalities. They are two of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. But on the court, they were completely different. Roger plays like he is walking on a cloud, light on his feet.
Rafa is the opposite; his physicality is just brute force. Americans love rivalry, and we portrayed that. People love taking sides. Vamos Rafa! Allez Roger! And we had a lot of fun marketing those two,” Nakajima explained. In late September, Federer’s career came to an end at the Laver Cup.
In the final match of his career, Federer teamed up with Nadal for a doubles match. While Federer and Nadal were playing their doubles match at the Laver Cup, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were supporting them from the sidelined.
After the match was over, Nadal also broke down in tears while Federer was giving his retirement speech.
