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Spanish Tennis Player Garbiñe Muguruza Emerging As Potential Favorite For Sponsors

The triumph of Garbiñe Muguruza at the French Open final in May "has been heralded as a new era for women's tennis," with the Spaniard being seen as a "natural successor" to Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, according to Bill Wilson of the BBC. At Roland Garros, as at Wimbledon last year when she was runner-up, Muguruza has "caught the attention of both fans and the media for her power and athleticism on the court, and her breezy demeanour off it." She has become a "potential favourite for sponsors." IMG Tennis Head Fernando Soler said, "Her reach can be universal. The goal is to turn Garbiñe into a global star and she is helping herself with her on-court performance." Indeed, "work on creating her brand and commercial appeal has already been under way for two years, since her first tournament win, at the Hobart International in January 2014." One U.S. sports business magazine "named the WTA world number two the 14th most marketable athlete in the world over the next three years." Muguruza is currently the face of adidas by Stella McCartney, "has a deal with racquet firm Babolat, and other partnerships with BBVA Bank and sunglasses line Maui Jim." Meanwhile, her team is "in conversations with a range of firms on other potential sponsor deals." Soler: "We are trying to build the right platform for Garbiñe. We are being very selective in terms of brands we partner with, and it is important that the brand is a good fit and Garbiñe has a passion for the brand." According to Salford University sports enterprise professor Simon Chadwick women's tennis has a vacancy for a "new leading brand," one that he says Muguruza could fill. Chadwick said, "The time is right for a new global face of women's tennis, and this could potentially be her. The fact she is of Spanish origin potentially opens up the Hispanic world, including Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S. And as well as being a strong player she also has a femininity, which is important to a certain type of sponsor" (BBC, 6/26).

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