Novak Djokovic may be set to end his tennis career as the most successful male player of all-time, but a leading sports finance expert has claimed he will never be as commercially successful as his great rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic’s haul of 24 Grand Slam titles ensures he end his career with more major tiles than his nearest rivals, with Nadal ending his career after 22 wins in the biggest tournaments of them all and Federer claiming 20.

The enduring popularity of Federer and Nadal has ensured some of their sponsorship deals have continued into their sporting retirement, with Federer continuing to work with brands like Wilson, Uniqlo and On shoes in highly lucrative deals.

Nadal is still working with his long-time racket supplier Wilson and also has ongoing deals with Nike and a lucrative agreement to promote tennis in Saudi Arabia.

Djokovic has his own list of high-profile sponsors, with Lacoste, ASICS and Hublot among his backers.

Yet there has always been a perception that Federer and Nadal are more popular with sports fans around the world when compared to Djokovic and sport finance expert Dr. Rob Wilson has claimed the Serbian will always be beind his rivals in the commercial race.

“Novak Djokovic has passed Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal when it comes to winning Grand Slams, but I don’t think he’ll ever reach their level in terms of public profile and endorsement right,” said Wilson.

“It will be interesting to see how the young wave of talent like Carlos Alcaraz will compete with him because Federer and Nadal had each other and then Djokovic and Murray to a lesser extent. At the moment, Djokovic doesn’t have that level of competition.”

Speaking to Genting Casino, Dr. Wilson also gave his verdict on the ongoing commercial value of 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who is struggling to make her mark on the WTA Tour.

Raducanu has struggled with injuries and loss of form since her iconic win in New York over three years ago, which sparked a rush of top tier companies to offer her lavish sponsorship deals.

While her form on the court may not justify those deals continuing, Raducanu’s huge social media following and global fame will still give her chances to attract new sponsors.

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“Emma Raducanu is marketable but the level of that will come down to sporting performance, whether that will be in the top echelons of the sport remains to be seen,” added Dr. Wilson

“She certainly has the raw talent, but what we also see in female tennis as compared to male tennis is that you don’t get the same longevity as when you look at Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic – with the expectation of Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova.

“You tend to find that female athletes come and go with tennis, so they’ll have two or three years at the top and then that can change.

“I’ll be interested to see if we’re still talking about Raducanu in seven or eight years’ time as an elite tennis player that’s qualifying routinely for ATP and Grand Slams, even if she doesn’t win them.

Raducanu will keep hold of sponsors at the moment because she is very marketable and speaks very well, she’s a sponsor’s dream.

“They can activate that even when she’s not winning tournaments because she is very recognisable and has the right personality.”

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