Emma Raducanu ignored by WTA rival as Williams and Sharapova shots fired
Karolina Pliskova has slammed the lack of charismatic stars and sellable personalities in women’s tennis in the post-Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova era. The former world No 1 thinks conditions were better when both women were still on the tour. Pliskova also claims that players are no longer able to market themselves beyond the court, ignoring impressive brand deals signed by players like Emma Raducanu.
Pliskova went on a blistering rant about the current state of women’s tennis as she fired shots at her current colleagues, claiming they can’t attract attention like Williams and Sharapova did. “Our situation is not very good, even though some of the best in the world have a lot to offer,” the 31-year-old told iSport.cz.
“I am not going to evaluate the tennis aspects, but I think that if something is missing today it is charismatic stars, personalities that go beyond the courts and are marketing products in themselves.” The 16-time title winner also thinks that the WTA have done nothing to market their stars but says the issues weren’t as obvious when the multi-Grand Slam champions were drawing interest.
Pliskova continued: “The WTA does not contribute anything to generating that, they are not promoting our sport or the rivalries that could be generated, clashes of personalities, etc. When Serena and Sharapova competed, the general conditions for everyone were much better.
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“There was more sponsorship, more attention, more people in the stands, the interest was greater.” The Czech tennis star hinted that she wasn’t the only player who feels the same way as there are a group of players discussing how to change the game. But Pliskova herself doesn’t want to get too involved after 14 years on tour.
“This has to change and there is a WhatsApp group in which some talk and propose changes. I’m not going to get into that, I get the feeling that any modification to the status quo is going to take a long time and requires a lot of energy to improve things. I’m no longer at the beginning of my career, this is totally beyond me,” she added.
However, Pliskova’s claims ignored that several WTA stars have successfully been able to market themselves and score some brand deals. Aged just 21, Raducanu already has sponsorships with the likes of Dior, Tiffany & Co., British Airways and Porsche.
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Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka have also been able to transcend the sport and become popular personalities, with Sportico reporting that they earned £12.6m ($16m) and £11.9m ($15m) respectively off the court in 2023. The American teenager won her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open this year and added Bose and UPS to her sponsorship portfolio alongside Nike and New Balance.
Meanwhile, Osaka’s brand deals have been so significant that Nike went against their protocol of not allowing sponsorship patches on their athletes’ clothing for her. The four-time Major winner works with the likes of Mastercard and Sweetgreen and even has her own management agency and skincare line.
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