In today’s world of tennis where the off-court business side is just as important as the on-court entertainment, the consumer is often confused by which products are good and which products are bad. It really doesn’t matter what an athlete endorses because “money talks” and given enough money, anyone will endorse anything. Instead of looking to the tennis players to see what they get paid to endorse, the best thing to do is to look at the products that players wear when they don’t get paid.

Nike is the clear hands-down winner
A few years ago, Nike did some major “spring-cleaning” with its roster of endorsed players and opted to only support a few of the best. When you go to their tennis home page, there are only 6 players that grace their site: Roger Federer, James Blake, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Daniela Hantuchova. Serena Williams doesn’t really belong on that list but that’s a different matter for another time. Many players were let go from the payroll but the impressive thing was that if they didn’t get another shoe deal, they still stuck with Nike for their shoe needs.
Tommy Robredo (#9), Ivan Ljubicic (#12), Radek Stepanek (#34), Tommy Haas (#11), and Sebastien Grosjean (#67) are either currently in the top 10 in the world or have been top 10 in their careers. Their current rankings are in parentheses after their names. All of these players are not sponsored by Nike but they ALL wear Nike because they want the best in cushioning, support, and performance.

Tommy Robredo, sponsored by Sergio Tacchini but wears Nike Breathe Cage shoes:

Ivan Ljubicic, sponsored by Diadora but wears Nike Vapor IV shoes:

Sebastien Grosjean, sponsored by Lacoste but wears Nike Vapor IV shoes:

Radek Stepanek, sponsored by Alea but wears Nike Oscillate shoes:

Tommy Haas, sponsored by Limited Sports but wears Nike Breathe Free 3s:

Anecdotal evidence: the best type of endorsement
I’ve tried all the brands for tennis throughout a 20 year trial basis and each time, I’ve gone back to Nike. I’ll give credit to Adidas for the creation of the Barricades because it’s an awesome shoe but it’s become a whale in weight for generation 3 and 4. I still remember owning a pair of the Reebok Pump with the fuzzy tennis pump that Michael Chang used to endorse. I’m always a year behind with Nike tennis shoes but that’s because I’m cheap. I always wait for the current model to become “stale” and try my luck getting them via eBay. It takes anywhere from six months to eighteen months before I get a chance to wear Federer’s shoes at this year’s US Open but it will be worth the wait because they will be more than a third cheaper. There’s not much of a price discrepancy between Nike and the other shoe brands so price isn’t an issue when it comes to desiring and demanding the best in the market. You can’t lose with Nike, says me and a Swiss guy named Federer!

Roger Federer, sponsored by Nike, wearing his famous Darth Federer black Vapor IV shoes during the US Open 2007: