Novak Djokovic Has A Contract With IMG

Written by: Staff on 24th December 2012

Novak Djokovic Has A Contract With IMG

epa03467178 Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns to Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina during a ATP World Tour tennis semi final match at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 11 November 2012. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

IMG Worldwide might have experienced a troubled year with the loss of Roger Federer from their list of top-flight tennis clients but there was a sense of Yuletide achievement with the formal and contracted agreement to manage world no.1 Novak Djokovic.

For more than six months it has been a thinly veiled secret that 25 year-old Djokovic, who was placed 61st on Forbes Magazine’s list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, would be moving under the IMG banner alongside the likes of Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams and Li Na when his contract with Creative Artists Agency had expired.

However the leading executives of the iconic global sports, fashion and media company still felt the urge to go public on their delight at representing five times Grand Slam champion Djokovic in what they term ‘developing a brand building strategy through marketing, endorsements, appearances and licensing along with select global business initiatives.’

So far there has been no mention of which specific IMG employee will be given the huge responsibility of handling Djokovic’s day-to-day business but the player who will soon be beginning his defense of the Australian Open title insisted: “I’m very happy with how my career has been advancing these past few years.

“Working with IMG will continue to build off of that momentum. IMG’s expansive global footprint will offer me a truly unique set of resources to explore business opportunities that simply do not exist anywhere else in the industry.”

Djokovic earned a reported $20.6 million in prize money, endorsements sponsorships but midway through 2012 he was forced to swap his clothing deal from Italian company Sergio Tacchini to the Japanese manufacturers Uniqlo because his former outfitters could no longer afford to pay contracted bonuses.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: IMG tennis news, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis News