Roger Federer's Sponsor Roster On The Rise Surrounding U.S. Open

Tennis player Roger Federer “is suddenly everywhere” as he prepares for his quarterfinal match today against Robin Soderling compared to a few years ago when Federer was “at the peak of his tennis powers” but “under-endorsed and largely ignored by corporate sponsors” in America, according to Filip Bondy of N.Y. DAILY NEWS. He is on our TV sets “hawking Mercedes cars or Nike shoes or Lindt chocolates.” His “pleasant, boyish face is peering out at opponents from the sides of official tournament cars, part of his Mercedes deal.” He is “modeling a new collared tennis shirt, or a fanciful sweatsuit.” He is “shaving, driving, smacking balls, knocking a bottle off someone’s head with his serve on YouTube or talking his way through an airport security line in a Swiss accent.” He also endorses Credit Suisse, Gillette, Jura coffee machines, Wilson and Rolex watches. Federer has “become as omnipresent as his ad-pal Tiger Woods” before Wood’s “rapid descent from grace.” CCB Strategies Founder & President Charlie Bernard said Federer is “very engaging, very charismatic.” Bernard: “If you’re looking at a sponsorship, Federer coming out in a white jacket winning Wimbledon paints a pretty nice corporate image.” Soderling writes Federer is the “anti-Tiger, at a time when potential sponsors are wary of becoming involved with loose cannons or wayward husbands.” It probably helps Federer’s “bank account that he has no homemade male competition in America, where Andy Roddick’s commercial run has hit steep speed bumps following seven years without a major title” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/8).

WORK IT GIRL: USA TODAY’s Douglas Robson writes tennis player Caroline Wozniacki’s “skill and personality have sponsors lining up.” Wozniacki’s agent, BEST Tennis President John Tobias, said, “She has a lot of non-tennis deals in the works.” Tobias noted that her “tournament appearance fee have risen 60-70% during the summer.” She has also “embraced her sex appeal, joking with news reporters Monday who remarked on the shortness of her tennis dress.” Wozniacki: “I definitely am sure I’ll get a lot of male fans now” (USA TODAY, 9/8).

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY: In L.A., Bill Dwyre notes Venus Williams “came dressed for a cocktail party Tuesday night, and a tennis match broke out.” Williams wore “a pink, stretchy dress” and has “several versions of it.” Williams said earlier this week that “while she didn’t design” the dress, it was “symbolic of playing” at the U.S. Open. Williams: “This outfit is really about New York. It’s like a burst of fireworks. It’s a celebration of me playing my best, obviously at home, and kind of doing what I love and being able to wear something fun while I do it.” Dwyre writes “one might question the fun of having to tug the dress back down to a more appropriate place after almost every point, during which the pink netting rides up.” The jury “is out -- probably will remain so -- on whether this dress is good, bad or ugly” (L.A. TIMES, 9/8).