Tennis News: Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic and Simone Biles

Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff are popular globally. In fact, global marketing success has little to do with how successful a player is. If that were so, Djokovic would be a top-three global brand. He isn’t far off, but he also isn’t in the top ten.

That is, at least, according to a study by Sports Pro. The site has put together a list of the top 50 most marketable athletes in the world, and Gauff (13) outranks Djokovic (18). The positive part, however, is that six other tennis players also rank in the top 50.

Maybe tennis is not one of the biggest sports in the United States, but the list by Sports Pro would imply tennis has a pull everywhere else. Carlos Alcaraz ranks 29, Rafael Nadal is 34, Aryna Sabalenka is 38, Jannik Sinner is 47, Naomi Osaka is 48, and Iga Swiatek is 50. That is a solid group of professional tennis players who can sell some products.
Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic are popular but they are not Simone Biles
Still, it would be nice if one of the players ranked in the top 10. Number one is Simone Biles. Biles’ popularity proves that not only does her personality translate to people liking her, but it also shows just how much attention gymnastics can pull. Of course, Biles is ridiculously successful, and that helps, but so has Djokovic.
One might wonder where Djokovic would rank if he were American. He has 24 Grand Slam titles and more weeks atop the ATP rankings than any other man ever, but he might just have been born in a part of the world that does not lend itself to global marketing. Gauff is American and that helps.

The other part that might hurt tennis is if Sinner is found to be guilty of doping if the World Anti-Doping Agency wins its appeal of Sinner’s being found innocent by the International Tennis Integrity Agency. That might hurt all tennis players because the sport might be viewed as allowing doping. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.