Pete Sampras, one of the all-time greats, signed a lucrative contract with the sports apparel giant, Nike, during his heyday on the ATP Tour. However, as Sampras was nearing the end of his career, he had a falling out with his sponsor. While the sportswear brand offered him a new deal, it fell well below Sampras’ expectations. The issue took an emotional toll on the legendary American, but when the ‘Swiss Maestro’ Roger Federer faced a similar issue several years on, he handled it differently.

In Sampras’ 2008 autobiography ‘A Champion’s Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis’, the tennis legend looked back on his troubles with Nike. He also expressed his understanding of the underlying issue that prompted Nike to do what it did with him.

According to Pete Sampras, Nike wasn’t registering profits from its tennis division

Sampras mentioned in his autobiography how he started wearing plain shirts without “the trademark Nike ‘swoosh'” following the expiry of his deal with the sportswear giant. However, he understood why Nike’s new deal for him wasn’t up to his expectations. “It was clear that the tennis division wasn’t doing all that well anymore.”

At the time, Nike heavily relied on young players for marketing its products. However, Sampras was fast approaching the twilight years of a glittering tennis career. In his autobiography, he wrote, “I may have been the all-time champ, but it was the top players, and mostly hot young players, who moved product.”

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Sampras also stated how Nike’s new deal, which he deemed unfair, angered him. “I was so angered that I called Phil Knight (Nike founder and CEO at the time). I told him that I felt I’d been a model Nike athlete.”

Roger Federer’s response when he faced a similar situation

In 2018, Roger Federer, who was once coached by Sampras’ former coach, went through a situation similar to the one Sampras experienced. However, unlike Sampras, Federer didn’t let his emotions get the better of him.

Nike and Federer were almost inseparable for 20 years. However, following the expiry of their deal in March 2018, Federer rejected Nike’s advances because he felt undervalued. However, he calmly waited for a better deal to come his way.

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Ultimately, Federer did get a better deal, but not from Nike. In early July 2018, Uniqlo, a clothing brand based in Japan, announced that it had signed a whopping $300 million deal with Federer.