Naomi Osaka split from IMG and created her own agency

Naomi Osakathe highest paid athlete in the world, with a sponsorship portfolio reaching 50 million euros per year, severed his relationship with management agency IMG to create his own agency, Evolvein an unprecedented motion for an athlete of the highest level.

This decision is not new for other athletes, such as Roger Federer, who left IMG in 2013 to create TEAM8, but for a woman. And more for a nearly 24 -year -old, as is the case with the Japanese.

Osaka will work with his agent for the last seven years, Stuart Duguid, in the style of what Federer did to Tony Godsick and Rafa Nadal to Carlos Costa.. Both were under the umbrella of IMG before embarking on their adventure on their own.

The Japanese, in the words of his agent, are doing so out of ambition to expand his interests, have businesses beyond tennis and to ensure his future. “Naomi is not one of those people who spends her time playing video games or watching Netflix.Duguid told the New York Times.

Osaka, in addition, will control its sponsorships, which report approximately 60 million dollars per year (57 million euros) and that’s what put him as the highest paid athlete in the world and at the height of the few he could compete with those figures: LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Cristiano Ronaldo. She is number 12 on Forbes ’list of highest paid athletes, ahead of Serena Williams (28) and Novak Djokovic (46).

Among the brands linked to Osaka, the technology company Google stands outthe clothing brand Lous Vuitton, Mastercard, Nike, the car company Nissan, the watch maker Tag Heuer and Airbnb.

Osaka’s goal is for its portfolio to grow to 150 million dollars per year (144 million euros), to have more control over it and to attract new talent.in Federer’s style with TEAM8, which in addition to representing Switzerland, managed the careers of Juan Martín del Potro and Cori Gauff, with Grigor Dimitrov and Alexander Zverev in its ranks and also organized the Laver Cup, one of the Federer’s rival .the Davis Cup.

At the same time, IMG is losing huge assets, one of its biggest sources of revenue, while igniting a new star like Carlos Alcaraz and retains others like Daniil Medvedev and Emma Raducanu.

Osaka’s good moment on the financial level, however, contrasts with its fall on track, where From being number two in the world in August 2021 it has dropped to number 78 in the ranking at the beginning of last year.. The offense was a five-month break, after losing in the third round of the US Open, blamed on the need to recover mentally from the last few months.

The player announced in facing Roland Garros that he would not attend press conferences after the match – an obligation for players subject to fines – due to mental health, a fact not reciprocated by the Grand Slams, which fined him of $ 15,000 (14,000 euros) for a failed press conference, or for many of his colleagues, who explained that press attention was required by their work.

The current season once again shows the best of Osakawon four Grand Slams and was crowned number one in the world -the first Asian to achieve it-, and the Japanese reached the Indian Wells final less than two months ago, where he fell as the best tennis player at the moment ito. , the Polish Iga Swiatek.

After the early defeat in Madrid, world number 36 recovered from an ankle injury and did not participate in Rome with the goal of being consistent for Roland Garros, with Wimbledon, the Grand Slam that remains to be covered. He has never won a tournament on clay.