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Novak Djokovic struggled with injury and the hot conditions throughout his run to the Shanghai Masters semi-final, raising questions over his participation at the upcoming 6 Kings Slam.

For now, Djokovic only has two events left on his calendar, the exhibition 6 Kings Slam and the Hellenic Championships in Greece, but given his woes at the ATP Masters 1000 event in China, he could well decide to call an early end to his 2025 season.

Playing in his first tournament since losing in the last four of the US Open against Jannik Sinner at the start of September, the world No 5 defeated Marin Cilic and Yannick Hanfmann in his first two matches to set up a clash against Jaume Munar.

He needed three sets to beat the Spaniard and looked a spent force most of the match as he took a medical timeout to receive treatment to his leg, while he also vomited on court as the humid conditions took its toll.

With age no longer on his side, the 38-year-old was also troubled during his win over Zizou Bergs in the quarter-final and it was a similar story against qualifier Valentin Vacherot in the last four.

At times, the drenched Djokovic was unable to chase down balls and eventually lost 6-3, 6-4 as the Monagasque player became one of the lowest-ranked players to defeat the 24-time Grand Slam winner.

After the match, the former world No 1 refused to answer questions about his fitness and health.

When asked “Can you talk about your physical condition?” the answer was short and he simply stated, “No. Next question, please”.

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Besides struggling with the heat, Djokovic had a heavily strapped right shoulder and he was also troubled by a left glute problem against Vacherot.

The tennis great will have only a few days to recover as he is scheduled to be back at the 6 Kings Slam, which runs from October 15-18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This year marks the second edition of the big-paying exhibition event, where the overall winner will receive a $6m cheque ($4.5m for winning the tournament and a $1.5m appearance fee).

The good news for Djokovic is he is only set to be in action on the second day as he has gone straight into the semi-final and will face either defending champion Jannik Sinner or Stefanos Tsitsipas. The winner of that last-four clash will take Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev or Taylor Fritz in the final on October 18.

If he keeps his calendar as is, he will then get an extended break after the Saudi Arabia event as his final regular ATP Tour event is the Hellenic Championships with the ATP 250 tournament starting on November 3.

Djokovic is on the cusp of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals, but so far he appears to be more out than in as he has made it clear in the past that he is not too keen on playing at the event again. Last year he opted not to defend his title in Turin.

The post Will Novak Djokovic play at 6 Kings Slam and event in Greece after latest fitness issues? appeared first on Tennis365.

Coco Gauff overcame Jessica Pegula in two competitive sets to win the 2025 Wuhan Open, but how much prize money and how many ranking points did the American duo earn?

In the championship match in Wuhan, Gauff prevailed 6-4, 7-5 against Pegula to win her maiden title at the event and her second title of 2025 after she won the French Open.

Gauff earned the third and decisive break of the opening set with Pegula serving at 4-5, while she battled back from a 0-3 double break deficit and 3-5 down in the second set.

This was the seventh encounter between Gauff and Pegula, who are ranked third and sixth respectively. The head-to-head is now 4-3 in Pegula’s favour.

Here, we look at the prize money and ranking points earned by Gauff, Pegula and the other stars who competed at the WTA 1000 tournament in China.

Prize money

The main draw at the Wuhan Open featured 56 players, with the top eight seeds receiving a first round bye.

Gauff has secured a $596,000 paycheque for winning her third career WTA 1000 title, while Pegula will collect $351,003 for her runner-up result.

Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini, who fell in the semi-finals, earned $180,100. The four beaten quarter-finalists — Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, Katerina Siniakova and Laura Siegemund — all took home $83,250.

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Players who lost in the last 16, including Ekaterina Alexandrova and Belinda Bencic, earned $41,500.

Mirra Andreeva and Naomi Osaka were among the players to lose in the second round, and they left with $23,450. First round losers collected $16,860.

Champion: $596,000
Runner-up: $351,003
Semi-finalists: $180,100
Quarter-finalists: $83,250
Round of 16: $41,500
Round 2: $23,450
Round 1: $16,860

Ranking points

Gauff has secured 1,000 WTA ranking points for her triumph in Wuhan, which boosts her tally by 610 points to 7,873. This has seen her close the gap to world No 2 Swiatek to 895 points.

Pegula’s run to the final has seen her collect 650 points, which increases her points total by 530 and lifts her above Andreeva into the world No 5 spot in the Live WTA Rankings.

Sabalenka and Paolini earned 390 points for reaching the semi-finals, while Swiatek, Rybakina, Siniakova and Siegemund picked up 215 points for progressing to the last eight.

Players who fell in the last 16 secured 120 points, compared to 65 points for second round losers and 10 points for first round losers.

Champion: 1,000 points
Finalist: 650 points
Semi-finalists: 390 points
Quarter-finalists: 215 points
Round of 16: 120 points
Round 2: 65 points
Round 1: 10 points

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The 2025 Shanghai Masters was a family affair as cousins Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech met in the final, but only one of them walked away with the title.

Vacherot ended his Shanghai fairytale run with the trophy – his maiden at ATP Tour level – as he defeated his Rinderknech – who started the tournament 150 places above him in the ATP Rankings – 4–6, 6–3, 6–3 in the showpiece match.

Besides holding his nerve to see off his cousin, Vacherot also claimed the upset of the year as he defeated 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the semi-final.

His other scalps included 14th seed Alexander Bublik and 10th Holger Rune while he became the first man from Monaco to reach the quarter-final of an ATP Masters 1000 event and he went two better to become the first Monagasque to win a top-level title.

Rinderknech, who was looking to become the first Frenchman since 2014 to win a Masters title, beat former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final, 14th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-final and third seed Alexander Zverev in the third round.

It was a productive time for the cousins in Shanghai.

Points Earned In Shanghai

Vacherot – whose previous career high was No 117 – will go home with the maximum points as he didn’t compete in Shanghai 12 months ago. In fact, he will go with more than the usual maximum as he started his campaign in the qualifiers.

Players earn 1,000 ranking points for winning ATP Masters 1000 events, but they also drop points from the corresponding period of the previous year as the ATP uses a rolling 52-week cumulative system.

But as mentioned, Vacherot didn’t play last year so he picks up 1,000 points plus 20 for his two wins in the qualifiers.

His 1,200 points will see him surge to No 40 when the ATP Rankings are updated after the tournament.

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Rinderknech, who was at No 54 before a ball was hit, was also looking for his first title, but has to settle for an ATP Masters 1000 runners-up trophy.

The 30-year-old picked up 620 points for his efforts will see jump 26 places to a new career high of No 28.

Prize Money Earned

Vacherot’s career earnings were $594,077 before the Shanghai Masters, but he has received a first-prize cheque of $1,124,380.

His cousin Rinderknech will go home with $597,890, pushing his career earnings to just over $5.6m.
“only” $594,077

The post Cousins Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech’s prize money and points from Shanghai appeared first on Tennis365.

Aryna Sabalenka missed out on a four-peat at the Wuhan Open, but she did enough to win the year-end No 1 WTA Ranking battle with Iga Swiatek while Coco Gauff did her chances of securing the American No 1 ranking no harm.

Having won the tournament in 2018, 2019 and 2024, Sabalenka was looking to make it four in a row (the 2020-2023 editions were cancelled due to COVID-19), but her streak was ended by Jessica Pegula in the semi-final.

Although the world No 1 dropped points after being unable to defend her title, she was always guaranteed to remain at the top of the rankings after the tournament while Swiatek’s defeat in the quarter-final also gave her more reason to celebrate.

WTA Top 10 Before Wuhan Open

1. Aryna Sabalenka – 11,010
2. Iga Swiatek – 8,553
3. Coco Gauff – 7,263
4. Amanda Anisimova – 5,989
5. Mirra Andreeva – 4,698
6. Jessica Pegula – 4,653
7. Madison Keys – 4,459
8. Jasmine Paolini – 4,156
9. Elena Rybakina – 3,898
10. Zheng Qinwen – 3,678

As the defending champion, Sabalenka dropped 1000 points at the start of the tournament, but earned 390 for reaching the semi-final so she will be on 10,000 points when the WTA Rankings are updated on Monday.

Although Swiatek added 215 points to her tally, it means she is now more than 1,600 points behind the four-time Grand Slam winner and, with only the WTA Finals still left on the calendar, she won’t be able to reclaim the No 1 ranking before the year is out.

Reigning Wimbledon champion Swiatek, though, is set to finish No 2 with Gauff’s run to the final not enough to keep her hopes alive.

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Gauff will face fellow American Jessica Pegula in the showpiece match in Wuhan and her run to the final has given her breathing space in terms of the American No 1 fight with Amanda Anisimova.

Following Anisimova’s title at the China Open, she closed the gap to third place to 1,274 and with Gauff set to drop 1,300 points at the WTA Finals, the 26-year-old was in a good position to over her compatriot.

But Gauff has increased her advantage to 1,589 and that will increase to 1,939 if she wins the title.

Pegula, meanwhile, has moved up one place to No 5 with Mirra Andreeva dropping one spot after her early exit.

Meanwhile, Ekaterina Alexandrova is set to make her top-10 debut after reaching the last 16.

WTA Top 10 Live Rankings

1. Aryna Sabalenka – 10,400
2. Iga Swiatek – 8,768
3. Coco Gauff – 7,523/7,873
4. Amanda Anisimova – 5,934
5. Jessica Pegula – 5,183/5,533
6. Mirra Andreeva – 4,643
7. Madison Keys – 4,450
8. Jasmine Paolini – 4,331
9. Elena Rybakina – 4,113
10. Ekaterina Alexandrova

Wuhan Open Winners

Qualifier Katerina Siniakova and Laura Siegemund were the only two unseeded players to reach the quarter-final and the former will move up 17 places to No 45 following her run while Siegemund is projected to rise 18 places to No 39.

Although there were no major surges into the top 100, players who are set to crack new career-highs in the top 50 on Monday are Maya Joint (No 34), Iva Jovic (No 35), Ann Li (No 42), Eva Lys (No 44) and Emiliana Arango (No 46).

Outuside the top 100, former world No 22 Zhang Shuai received a wildcard entry into the main draw and she upset 14th seed Emma Navarro in the first round and ended up reaching the last 16, earning 23-place boost to No 119.

Wuhan Open Losers

Zheng will exit the top 10 as she will drop one spot to No 11 after the Chinese star withdrew from her home tournament.

Magda Linette, Magdalena Frech and Wang Xinyu all reached the quarter-finals at the 2024 edition, but failed to produce that form this year and they will all suffer drops in the rankings.

Linett is -16 to No 56, Wang is -25 to No 62 and Frech is -10 to No 63.

Those Who Missed Out

With very little on the line in terms of points to defend, Naomi Osaka, Victoria Mboko and Emma Raducanu had a chance to surge up the rankings, but they failed to live up to their potential.

Osaka lost in the second round against Linda Noskova and remains at No 16 while Mboko was beaten by Alexandrova in the first round and remains at No 25. Raducanu lost in the first round against Li, but will move up one place to No 29.

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Novak Djokovic has refused to comment on his physical state after limping out in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters.

The Serb fell to world No 204 Valentin Vacherot 6-3, 6-4 in the last four of the penultimate Masters 1000 of 2025, unable to effectively counter the Monegasque’s firepower.

Djokovic had willed his way through the field en route to the last four clash, prevailing over Marin Cilic, Yannick Hanfmann, Jaume Munar, and Zizou Bergs.

However, despite being the overwhelming favourite for the clash, the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s movement looked to be compromised, also being spotted wearing support taping on his hamstring.

Djokovic has won just one title in 2025 – at the ATP 250 event in Geneva – and has failed to lift a title at Masters-1000 level since the 2023 Paris Masters.

The last 24 months have marked a significant decline in Djokovic’s positive results and physical state.

In 2024, he won his sole Olympic gold medal against Carlos Alcaraz on the Parisian clay, producing a stunning performance to seal an impeccable tournament.

Additionally, he reached the showpiece match at Wimbledon that same year, but fell to the Spaniard in straight sets.

Just a few weeks prior, he had torn his meniscus at the French Open, forcing him to withdraw from the quarter-final stage and, a few months later, lost in the third round at the US Open – capping off his first year without a Grand Slam since 2017.

This season, Djokovic has reached the semi-finals at all four Grand Slams, but was unable to win a set in any of the four clashes, including a retirement against Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open.

More recently, the Serb slipped at Wimbledon prior to his last four meeting with Jannik Sinner, an incident with further hindered his chances against the Italian – with Djokovic blaming the discomfort on age-related ‘wear-and-tear.’

His schedule for the rest of the season remains somewhat unclear, with the upcoming Six Kings Slam exhibition and the ATP 250 event in Greece being the only events to which he has firmly committed.

At the moment, Djokovic is also ranked third in the Live ATP Race to Turin, being just 120 points from securing his place at the Nitto ATP Finals – should he wish to participate.

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Here is everything that the former world No 1 stated during his short post-match press conference.

Q: How do you feel after this match, how much did you risk to continue, and can I just ask you maybe next week you will just rest or you think to go to Arabia?

Djokovic: “I want to congratulate Valentin for reaching his first Masters final. Going from qualifications, it’s an amazing story.

“I told him at the net that he’s had an amazing tournament, but more so his attitude is very good, and his game was amazing as well.

“So it’s all about him. I wish him all the best in the finals, and the better player won today.”

Q: Can you talk about your physical condition?

Djokovic: “No. Next question, please.”

The post The 69 words from Novak Djokovic’s press conference after brutal defeat – ‘Next question, please’ appeared first on Tennis365.

Valentin Vacherot has called his victory over Novak Djokovic an ‘unreal experience’ after producing yet another Shanghai upset.

The man from Monaco produced a dominant 6-3, 6-4 result over the 24-time Grand Slam champion to reach the final in Shanghai.

Vacherot continued to unleash his barrage of groundstrokes and serves against a Djokovic who appeared to be physically struggling, as he had been all week.

“I’m not realising [what’s happened], so I can’t give any words on it,” said the Monegasque, having never played a top-10 player before in his career.

“This is just crazy. First of all, to just be on the other side of the court [from Novak] was an unbelievable experience.

“I think I’ve got so much to learn from this match, from him. Even for myself, I’ve got a lot to keep.

“It was an hour and 40 minutes of pure joy, even though not many people wanted me to keep going. He’s really appreciated here. He has won four times.

“I got a bit lost in all his titles when they were announcing him, but it was an unreal experience.

“Now I’m probably just going to enjoy the win tonight and think about the final tomorrow.”

Overall, Vacherot is the lowest-ranked player to reach a Masters 1000 final, with Andrei Pavel having held the previous record after he made the showpiece match at the 2003 Paris Masters final as the world No 191.

As a result of his Shanghai run, Vacherot will rise to the world No 58 spot, with an opportunity to enter the world’s top 40 – should he prevail in Sunday’s final.

Additionally, he is the third lowest-ranked player to be victorious against Djokovic, with Reilly Opelka (world No 293) and Filip Krajinovic (world No 319) topping the list.

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“I didn’t even come as a qualifier, I came as an alternate,” he later explained.

“I wasn’t sure to even play the qualifier. Coming back from six months out is always not easy.

“You cannot just come back and win tournaments right and left.

“You’ve just got to fight your way through a little bit.”

In total, Vacherot has now knocked out five of the tournament’s seed players, with Djokovic joining Alexander Bublik, Tomas Machac Tallon Griekspoor, and Holger Rune as casualties of the dream run.

He will next face his cousin, Arthur Rinderknech.

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Emma Raducanu will face Zhu Lin in the first round of the Ningbo Open and if she gets past the Chinese veteran, she will have to navigate a nightmare path.

There had been doubts over Raducanu’s participation in the WTA 500 event following her retirement from her opening match at the Wuhan Open last year with a recent social media post suggesting she was still receiving medical treatment just days before the Ningbo event.

But the British No 1 has made her way to China’s northeastern Zhejiang province and her name remained in the main draw, giving her a chance to earn some crucial ranking points in the coming week.

The 22-year-old doesn’t have any points to defend in the last few months of the season and a good run in Ningbo will see her rise further up the rankings following her recent climb to No 29.

And Raducanu has landed in the top half of the draw with the 31-year-old Zhu – a former world No 38, who currently sits at No 230 in the WTA Rankings – her first opponent.

If she gets the better of Zhu, she will face top seed and current world No 5 Mirra Andreeva – who has a first-round bye – in the round of 16 in what will be their first-ever career meeting.

The winner of round of 16 encounter will face one of 2023 Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova/Karolina Muchova/seventh seed Diana Schaider/wildcard Wang Xinyu in the quarter-final.

Fourth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova is the second-highest seed in the top half and she is projected to make the semi-final, although she will likely have to get past eighth seed Luidila Samsonova in the last eight.

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Jasmine Paolini – who beat Iga Swiatek in the quarter-final of the Wuhan Open before losing against Coco Gauff in the last four – is the second seed and highlights the bottom half of the draw.

The Italian faces either Veronika Kudermetova or Shuai Zhang in the second round before a projected meeting against sixth seed Belinda Bencic in the quarter-final.

Paolini and third seed Elena Rybakina are the favourites to reach the semi-final, but the latter has a tricky path as she faces the winner of the Victoria Mboko and Dayana Yastremska first up before a possible meeting against seventh seed Clara Tauson.

The tournament has suffered several high-profile withdrawals as world No 4 Amanda Anisimova was due to be the top seed, but she is still struggling with a calf injury while defending champion Daria Kasatkina is also out due to injury.

Jessica Pegula was also initially in the draw, but she withdrew after her place in the season-ending WTA Finals was confirmed with her run to the semi-final of the Wuhan Open.

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We would not have predicted it would be world No 204 Valentin Vacherot who would give Novak Djokovic the reality check he was waiting for as he ponders the end of his tennis story.

Vacherot incredible win against Djokovic at the Shanghai Masters continued a truly remarkable week for the Monégasque player, as he is set to climb around 150 places in the ATP Rankings and secure more prize money this week than he had managed in his entire career up to this point.

The Vacherot story in Shanghai is one of the most remarkable of the 2025 season, as he has come through qualifying to reach the final of the ATP 1000 event in a week that will change the course of his career.

Yet for Djokovic, this chastening defeat confirmed what has been evident for some time.

The heart and mind of this great champion are still willing to compete at the top, but his body is no longer allowing him to get through a tournament, with his 6-3, 6-4 defeat against Vacherot the latest nail in his ambitions.

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With Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner out of Shanghai with injury issues, this felt like the week when Djokovic would win what may be a final ATP 1000 event of his remarkable career.

Yet the depleted and broken version of Djokovic who was unable to stay with a player ranked outside the top 200 in the world, should give him the reality check that he needed when he ponders what comes next.

Djokovic said after his US Open defeat against Alcaraz that he may no longer have the physical capacity to compete over five sets against young players who are at a different end of their careers.

The 38-year-old also suggested the best-of-three-set format may be his best hope of adding a few more trophy wins to his record, but even the shorter format appears to be beyond him now.

He was struggling from the off against Vacherot and while the underdog did well to hold his nerve and secure the biggest win of his career, the Djokovic he beat was a shadow of the legend who has dominated the sport for the last two decades.

Djokovic showed fight against Vacherot, but the tank was empty long before his serve was broken for a final time in the second set.

The Serbian will now head to Saudi Arabia to play in the Six Kings Slam, where he will collect $1.5m even if he needs to limp through a match in the exhibition event.

Then it will be decision time for Djokovic.

He will have a few weeks to ponder whether he will put in the preparation time required to play at the Australian Open in January.

The 25th Grand Slam title he is chasing is a dream that now looks set to be beyond him because if his failing body won’t allow him to compete over an extended ATP 1000 event played over three sets, the notion that he could get through seven rounds played over five sets to win seems impossible.

The game is up for Novak Djokovic, so don’t be surprised if a retirement announcement arrives before the end of the year.

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Valentin Vacherot produced another sensational victory at the Shanghai Masters as he upset Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, but is he the lowest-ranked player to defeat the 24-time Grand Slam winner?

Sitting at No 204 in the ATP Rankings before the start of the tournament, Vacherot was initially an alternate in the qualifying but he got a last-minute entry and then won his two matches to reach the main draw.

The 26-year-old then became the first player from Monaco to reach the semi-final of an ATP Masters 1000 event after securing upset after upset as he defeated 14th seed Alexander Bublik, 20th seed Tomas Machac and 27th seed Tallon Griekspoor en route to the quarter-final.

In the last eight, he stunned 10th seed Holger Rune to set up a clash against former world No 1 Djokovic and he then pulled off the biggest upset of his career as he defeated the legend 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 41 minutes in hot and humid conditions in Shanghai.

So where does he slot in in terms of Djokovic’s worst-ever defeats to lower-ranked players?

1. Filip Krajinovic – No 319

The honour of the lowest-ranked player to beat Djokovic goes to his fellow Serbian Krajinovic as he was at No 319 when he took on the tennis great on the clay at the ATP 250 tournament in Belgrade in 2010.

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Djokovic was ranked at No 2 at the time and Krajinovic won the opening set 6-4 before his compatriot retired with breathing problems.

2. Reilly Opelka – No 293

The big-serving Opelka, though, holds the record as the lowest-ranked player to win a completed match against Djokovic and that achievement came at the 2025 Brisbane International.

Former world No 17 Opelka had struggled with form and injury the previous year, but he caused the biggest upset of his career when he defeated the 24-time Grand Slam winner 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.

3. Valentin Vacherot – No 204

The man from Monaco is now the third-lowest-ranked player to beat the all-time great in a tennis match.

He does have the distinction of being the lowest-ranked player to beat Djokovic at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, as Luca Nardi previously held that record.

The Italian was at No 123 in the rankings when he defeated the Serbian in the round of 32 at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters.

4. Daniel Gimeno-Traver – No 178th

Before Opelka and Vacherot, Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver was the lowest-ranked player to win a completed match against Djokovic, but that took place early during the Serbian’s career.

Djokovic was ranked at No 66 when Gimeno-Traver defeated him 4-6, 6-3, 3-6 at the Barcelona Open.

In terms of Djokovic’s worst loss at Grand Slam level, Denis Istomin was at No 117 in the ATP Rankings when he defeated the Serbian in the round of 64 at the 2017 Australian Open.

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Roger Federer’s agent said ‘Nike left him’ after the Swiss athlete moved from the American company to join Uniqlo on a $300m deal.

Before he made the switch, Federer was one of the most famous Nike athletes in the world and had been wearing clothes and shoes with the famous ‘Swoosh’ on them since 1994.

But their partnership came to an end when the tennis great moved to Uniqlo in 2018 in what many thought was Federer turning his back on Nike.

Now though, Federer’s agent Tony Godsick has claimed it was actually the other way round.

“He didn’t leave Nike. Nike kind of left him, you know?” Godsick said on Andy Roddick’s Served podcast. “We were trying to re-sign, and they chose not to re-sign. He would have stayed.

“I spent from 2017, the contract was ending in February of 2018, a 10-year deal. We started in 2008. I spent one year, from the beginning of 17, all the way till when it ended, trying to renew it.”

Nike’s side of the story is they did not see Federer in the same light as the likes of LeBron James and Tiger Woods but their tennis director at the time Mike Nakajima later described it as “atrocity.”

“That should never have happened. For us to let somebody like that go, it’s an atrocity,” Nakajima is quoted in the book The Roger Federer Effect. “Roger Federer belonged with Nike for the rest of his career. Just like Michael Jordan. Like LeBron James, like Tiger Woods. He’s right up there with the all-time greatest Nike athletes ever. I’m still disappointed. But it happened. I have to get over it. It wasn’t my decision and I wasn’t there for it.”

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Ultimately though, Nike allowed Federer to look elsewhere and it was Japan where they ended up.

Godsick recalled the story: “I cannot believe this. I’m gonna go down as the agent who could not renew. Not just the greatest guy, but the greatest tennis player in history. And he won a bunch of majors recently. What a loser, Tony.

“Everybody was like, ‘Yeah, right. No, thank you.’ I remember one brand said, ‘He’s already branded Nike. We’re not interested.’ Another company said, ‘We would like to do it if we get to wait until next year, because this is the year of our founder, and we don’t want to dilute his own thing.’

‘The first thing [Uniqlo founder Tadashi Yanai] asked me was, who else are you here to see in Japan?’ I told him no one else. So he said ‘We’ll give you more time than 30 minutes.’ But then, he asked the really good question, which is, ‘Are you here to use me?’”

When Yanai realized that Federer’s agent was there to talk business, the two parties eventually agreed on a deal worth $300 million over 10 years with three years still left to run.

The deal is valued as the fifth-most lucrative for a player in sports history behind Lionel Messi with Adidas and LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo and Michael Jordan all with Nike.

It would appear Nike have though learned their lesson with Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka all signed up to deals.

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