Poor Jelena Jankovic... can't even get a racquet sponsor?

[Taxvictim]

I really like Jelena Jankovic, but was shocked watching last night's match against Ivanovic that Jelena was playing with a blacked out racquet with no logo on her strings. Has she fallen so far that she can't even get a racquet sponsor?

For the uninitiated, if a racquet maker won't pay the player using their racquet, players will spray the frame black and will not stencil the logo on the strings. They don't want to give the manufacturer free advertising.

[vandre]

don't be hatin'. there are pros who have never ever been near the second week of a slam who are all stenciled up and logoed out (see michael russell) just as there are pros who are much less attractive who are all stenciled up and logoed out (see bartoli).

i remember way way back in the long ago when jj was #1 and iirc i seem to remember that she and prince were in some sort of a disagreement over here contract. her position seemed to be "hey, i'm no. 1 now and i gotsta get paid so back up the brinks trunk!" whereas their position seemed to be "umm...we'll wait on that". in fact, i remember that jj played the aussie warm-up events with the P stencil but by the time the aussie open kicked off, the stencil was gone and i don't think i've seen it on her racquet since.

furthermore, i think she has been "fooling around" with her sticks in recent years. here's a pic from 2012 and you can see that while it's blacked out, it's got a w buttcap and no o ports



and here she is from the aussie this year, using a blacked out racquet with o ports and a p buttcap.



maybe she can't GET a racquet deal, but if that is the case, perhaps it's because her asking price is more that a company wants to pay. it might also be that she's trying to experiment with her sticks a bit. she might have even gone back to her "old faithful" prince stick. who knows?

[Bartelby]

Never get attached to a racquet made by a company that is faltering. They won't give you money and you won't switch.

[LuckyR]

Just because a player doesn't have a contract doesn't mean they can't get a contract. It means they haven't found a contract that they want to sign right now. Think about it. If you think that you ranking is going to go up a lot and your current sponsor is offering peanuts because your ranking is currently well below what you believe it will soon be, why would you sign for those peanuts? Buy some spraypaint, wait until your ranking is way higher then reapproach the racquet company.

Negotiating 101.

[mike84]

think there was story recently that Jankovic built/building massive home in California, to go along with her house in Florida and Dubai.

if he continues to play like that she will be broke very soon.

[bluetrain4]

Originally Posted by Taxvictim

I really like Jelena Jankovic, but was shocked watching last night's match against Ivanovic that Jelena was playing with a blacked out racquet with no logo on her strings. Has she fallen so far that she can't even get a racquet sponsor?

For the uninitiated, if a racquet maker won't pay the player using their racquet, players will spray the frame black and will not stencil the logo on the strings. They don't want to give the manufacturer free advertising.

I was under the impression that many pros have equipment-only sponsorships. They're provided with racquets and varying degrees of other equipment, but not paid to endorse the company (hence, the difference between sponsorship and endorsement). That way the company gets a little bit of advertising from the player's use of the rackets, and it also ups the company's percentage of the market,and the players get equipment. It would make sense to provide equipment to lower ranked players - they may not be as visible, but they are seen when playing top players in the early rounds, and if a lot of them are using a certain brand of racket, people see that.

[LuckyR]

Originally Posted by bluetrain4

I was under the impression that many pros have equipment-only sponsorships. They're provided with racquets and varying degrees of other equipment, but not paid to endorse the company (hence, the difference between sponsorship and endorsement). That way the company gets a little bit of advertising from the player's use of the rackets, and it also ups the company's percentage of the market,and the players get equipment. It would make sense to provide equipment to lower ranked players - they may not be as visible, but they are seen when playing top players in the early rounds, and if a lot of them are using a certain brand of racket, people see that.

True, thus the OP's question about blacking out the logo.

[sureshs]

My goal is to get a sponsor for overgrips only

[SoCal10s]

she's got one of the best 'body' in women's tennis... you beed to see her in person to really appreciate ...

Tomic also has a 'blacked out ' racket...

[West Coast Ace]

Originally Posted by LuckyR

Just because a player doesn't have a contract doesn't mean they can't get a contract. It means they haven't found a contract that they want to sign right now. Think about it. If you think that you ranking is going to go up a lot and your current sponsor is offering peanuts because your ranking is currently well below what you believe it will soon be, why would you sign for those peanuts? Buy some spraypaint, wait until your ranking is way higher then reapproach the racquet company.

Negotiating 101.

Thank you. A voice of reason. None of us are involved in the talks; who knows what JJ wants/expects. And given the state of the world economy, can anyone be surprised that the companies are retrenching and hesitant to throw down.

[Taxvictim]

Originally Posted by SoCal10s

she's got one of the best 'body' in women's tennis... you beed to see her in person to really appreciate ...

Tomic also has a 'blacked out ' racket...

I agree she is very cute up close. Here's a pic I took in Charleston years ago.



I guess the rest of you are right that she must not have a racquet contract offer she likes.

[vandre]

Originally Posted by Taxvictim

I agree she is very cute up close. Here's a pic I took in Charleston years ago.



I guess the rest of you are right that she must not have a racquet contract offer she likes.

she's my wife's fav so this is why i don't mind watching tennis with the wife so much

i think bartleby hit the nail on the head. it's always seemed to me like that prince frame was her security blanket (a la linus). she never really seemed at ease with the wilson blackout. it makes sense in a way because that was the stick she rode to the top. aa seemed to think he was stupid for switched to donnay from prince and he only got up to no. 4 in the prince stick and he mentioned frequently that he would go back to the pog from time to time. pros. they have favorite sticks too.

[brinkeguthrie]

After Borg's Bancroft deal lapsed, he played a blacked out Donnay in the USA as his Donnay deal was for Europe.

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by vandre

don't be hatin'. there are pros who have never ever been near the second week of a slam who are all stenciled up and logoed out (see michael russell) just as there are pros who are much less attractive who are all stenciled up and logoed out (see bartoli).

i remember way way back in the long ago when jj was #1 and iirc i seem to remember that she and prince were in some sort of a disagreement over here contract. her position seemed to be "hey, i'm no. 1 now and i gotsta get paid so back up the brinks trunk!" whereas their position seemed to be "umm...we'll wait on that". in fact, i remember that jj played the aussie warm-up events with the P stencil but by the time the aussie open kicked off, the stencil was gone and i don't think i've seen it on her racquet since.

furthermore, i think she has been "fooling around" with her sticks in recent years. here's a pic from 2012 and you can see that while it's blacked out, it's got a w buttcap and no o ports



and here she is from the aussie this year, using a blacked out racquet with o ports and a p buttcap.



maybe she can't GET a racquet deal, but if that is the case, perhaps it's because her asking price is more that a company wants to pay. it might also be that she's trying to experiment with her sticks a bit. she might have even gone back to her "old faithful" prince stick. who knows?

They must have people to do that for them obviously. But where do I get that done? A bike shop? I would never black out any of my Boris Becker racquets, but it's just a curiousity.

Jankovic is honestly attractive to me. There maybe some times where her facial expressions can be unattractive and some people may not find her attractive because of her large forehead, but I think she looks better than Azarenka and Wozniacki.

- My 2 cents

[juanparty]

is because she's so ugly

[vandre]

Originally Posted by Overdrive

They must have people to do that for them obviously. But where do I get that done? A bike shop? I would never black out any of my Boris Becker racquets, but it's just a curiousity.

Jankovic is honestly attractive to me. There maybe some times where her facial expressions can be unattractive and some people may not find her attractive because of her large forehead, but I think she looks better than Azarenka and Wozniacki.

- My 2 cents

there used to be a thread on here years ago about some dudes (non pros but rec players) who refinish their own racquets. iirc, they'd strip the original finish off, prime it and go from there. in fact i think they where using spray paint. for all i know, the pros could be doing something similar to their own blacked-out sticks.

[big ted]

she probably just cant get sponsored with the racquet she wants to use for the amount of money she wants. same thing happened with sampras and becker and mcenroe for a while

[Andyroo10567]

Originally Posted by juanparty

is because she's so ugly

LOL.... She's not ugly..... She's just not as attractive as the other females on tour........ I'm trying to say it as polite as i can instead of being straight forward like you did. :P

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by big ted

she probably just cant get sponsored with the racquet she wants to use for the amount of money she wants. same thing happened with sampras and becker and mcenroe for a while

I don't blame Jankovic if this was the case. The only racquets I would play on Tour are Beckers, but because the racquet line is discontinued, would I still have to black it out or would I have to get a sponsorship by Volkl?

Also, what came to my attention is that Boris Becker released a new line of frames called Volkl-Boris Becker and I've only seen them on the bay. I guess these are European exclusive or you can only get them at a Volkl store in person or something.
Personally, I think they are cosmetically ugly to me.
I would send pictures, but like I said before, they are on the bay. Just search 'Boris Becker racquet' if you are curious.

[Borrelli]

She must be on the brink of depression these days. Went from having some big money sponsor's to near nothing now. I heard the Li Ning deal she had was for serious money. I think she bought a $10 million dollar house in CA after that, that mortgage payment can't be easy these days.