Check out Roger Federer dressed up as King Arthur.

As a follow up to my previous post about the richest athletes, I came across an interesting article written in Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge. Professor Anita Elberse discusses her research on sports marketing and her recent case on Russian tennis superstar Maria Sharapova. What is the secret recipe for her phenomenal success?

• There are few female athletes with global marketing appeal (basically shes doesn’t have a lot of competition)
• Having the right combination of brand attributes (e.g. Canon=power with precision and style)
• Public speaking skills
• Good look
• Overall clean image

It does not hurt that Sharapova is regarded as one of the most beautiful athletes in the world. But when I had the opportunity to follow her for a day of sponsorship and other commitments in New York City, I also learned she is a business professional and comfortable speaking in front of various groups; it’s easy to forget she is still only 20 years old.

Every time I see Sharapova on TV, whether it is an interview or blowing kisses to the crowd, I get an impression that all her moves and words are perfectly choreographed by managers/agents/consultants. I am sure she is a smart woman, but it is hard to get an understanding what the real Maria thinks, likes or feels.

Technorati Tag: Maria Sharapova

Forbes has announced its new list of highest paid athletes in the world. Tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer made the list. With $29 million Federer ranked 13th. 20-year-old Russian Maria Sharapova ranked 25th and is the sole woman on the list. The last time Forbes conducted the survey in 2004, no woman made the list. Masha’s $23 million income comes mostly from endorsements since she has been hampered by injuries during this season. Among others, the endorsement darling’s corporate sponsors’ list includes Nike, Canon, Land-Rover, Colgate-Palmolive, and Motorola. Pretty impressive, considering that Sharapova still can’t legally buy a drink.

Roger’s endorseability is a little bit hard to understand. There was an interesting article Federer: the anti-Kournikova in July on CNNMoney.com. The article discusses how Roger Federer is probably the most dominant athlete active today, yet there are two places he hasn’t been able to win — the French Open and Madison Avenue.

Federer lists Nike, Rolex and Wilson Sporting Goods among his sponsors and has recently appeared for the first time in a national television ad campaign in the United States with Tiger Woods and European soccer star Thierry Henry in the new Gillette Champions global ad campaign.

Technorati Tags: Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer

It looks like Maria Sharapova wants to add another title to her stats, in addition to becoming a TV producer. Below is Tennis Week magazine’s press release.

NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire - October 24, 2007) - Tennis Week is partnering with one of tennis’ top stars to take readers inside the lifestyle of a champion. Maria Sharapova, named by Vogue as one of its top 20 best-dressed new faces, is bringing her distinctive style, health and fitness insight, beauty and wellness tips, fashion flair and personal presence to the pages of Tennis Week Magazine. The two-time Grand Slam champion has signed on as a regular Editorial Contributor to Tennis Week Magazine, TW publisher Randy Master announced today.

A trend-setter on and off court, Sharapova will share the latest and hottest fashion, beauty and wellness and health and fitness tips with readers. In her role as editorial contributor Sharapova will personally create and edit material and produce her own page in each of the next nine issues of Tennis Week Magazine. Sharapova will make her editorial debut in the year-end November/December issue of Tennis Week and continue to create and edit her page in each of Tennis Week’s eight issues in 2008.

“Maria Sharapova is a beautiful, glamorous, intelligent global tennis star. We are thrilled to welcome her as a regular contributor to Tennis Week Magazine,” Master said. “Maria contributes content to her official web site, MariaSharapova.com, she’s a very creative person and she’s already working on ideas for her premier page in Tennis Week. We’re excited to bring one of the world’s most well-known athletes to the pages of Tennis Week and we believe Maria’s page will become a popular destination for readers in each issue.”

Read more »

The world’s highest-paid female athlete Maria Sharapova keeps her schedule busy without playing tennis. According to Variety Magazine, the Russian tennis star, who is still recovering from shoulder injury, is aiming at adding “television producer” to her resume.

“Sharapova has partnered with writer Jacob Epstein to lob a sports-themed drama toward the CW net. Project will be set inside the world of professional women’s tennis — a topic Sharapova, currently ranked fifth among the world’s female players, knows a thing or two about.”

An interesting thing to look out for in the new drama is the guest star appearances. For example, Serena Williams has done some TV acting, and Andy Roddick has hosted the Saturday Night Live. Would be fun to watch!

Technorati Tags: Maria Sharapova, Russian Tennis Player

Tennis great Martina Navratilova is schedule for a guest appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO. Bill’s other guests will be Gen. Wesley Clark, and conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan. Let’s hope that this week’s program will go smoother compared to what happened last week during the live show.

(Via Eurosport) - The world number seven Russian Anna Chakvetadze has booked the sixth place in the season ending WTA Tour Championships.

“I’m so excited to play in my first Sony Ericsson Championships. 2007 has been an amazing year for me, having reached the Top 5 in the world, and I am looking forward to finishing strongly in Madrid,” said the 20-year-old Russian.

Chakvetadze joins Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic and Serena Williams in the season-ending tournament in Madrid, which takes place from November 6-11.

With two places remaining Australian Open finalist Maria Sharapova and Wimbledon champion Venus Williams are clinging to the seventh and eighth places in the WTA Race.

For Anna Chahkvetadze’s complete profile visit WTA site.

Though I don’t know what they are singing about, I find this video hilarious! David’s singing is as good as my tennis skills

Technorati Tags: David Nalbandian, Roger Federer

Congratulations to David Nalbandian! With all the victories this week, he made a statement. When he wins it means he is a better player, not because his opponent is “injured,” “tired,” or in a “bad mood,” the way media almost always explains Nalbandian’s wins. Federer looked so dejected and angry on the bench after the loss.

P.S. By the way, I can officially assure that “Donut David” nickname is no longer accurate. He looked very fit and his infamous stomach is now flat which was seen by millions of fans on TV

(Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)
Technorati Tags: David Nalbandian, Roger Federer

Another great win by Argentine David Nalbandian. The 25-year-old unseeded Nalbandian outclassed world No 3 Novak Djokovic with a 6-4 7-6 victory to reach his first final of the year. As I said in my previous post, the guy can beat anyone on any surface IF he is in the zone. This week has been his “Zone” week.

Nalbandian’s main weakness has been his inability to close matches and win on important points. He has always been underestimated by the media and experts. He is not media favorite because he doesn’t have typical marketable personality and doesn’t like talking to them after he loses matches (his press conferences are just awful). Since I am a biased Nalbandian fan, I attribute it to the language and cultural barrier he has with English-speaking crowd:-) Otherwise he is quite nice and friendly when he speaks Spanish:-) Still I think David needs a PR consultant to better market his image.

Peter Bodo’s blog reveals a nice secret about David. His full name is … (are you ready for this?) Gervasio Esteban David Ezequiel Nalbandian.

Gervasio Esteban David Ezequiel Nalbandian will face world number one Roger Federer in Sunday’s final.