Done Deal:Tennis prodigy Coco Gauff, signs multi-year sponsorship contract with New Balance
She’s only 14 but Cori Gauff has already been dubbed the “first tennis star of her generation.” Despite her tender years, Gauff ‘s star appeal is so great within the tennis world that she has just signed a multi-year endorsement contract with a leading sportswear manufacturer.
“I want to be a role model to as many young athletes as possible,” Gauff said in a statement released by New Balance on Wednesday.
Alessandro Barel Di Sant Albano of Team 8, an agency founded by Roger Federer and his longtime agent Tony Godsick, represents Gauff, one of the few young athletes with her own agent.
CNN was informed by Barel Di Sant Albano that this was Gauff’s first endorsement deal. In order to allow Gauff more time to concentrate on her tennis, her team of advisors declined multiple endorsement offers that they had already received for her.
Teenagers’ participation in tournaments is restricted by the sport’s “age eligibility rule,” which is a component of the women’s WTA Tour’s player development program, in order to avoid early age burnout.
Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’ coach, who has been mentoring Gauff since he first saw her when she was eleven years old, has criticized the restriction.
Earlier this year, Mouratoglou told CNN Sport, “This is totally unfair to players who are able to achieve something at that period of their lives and career.” “I think tennis is intriguing because it is different; this is against diversity.”
The age restriction was implemented in response to several instances of high-profile athletes experiencing burnout. One such example is Jennifer Capriati, an American teenage prodigy who began playing professionally at the age of 13, made it to the top 10 at the age of 14, and won an Olymp
