Steve Johnson to Yonex
- Thread starter ls206
- Start date
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
Good for Stevie!
Shaolin
G.O.A.T.
Maybe one of the 117,236 other players on tour using Babolat.
bigserving
Hall of Fame
It's a paint job.
kimguroo
Legend
It's not paint job. I can clearly see "fin technology" at top inside of the rackets.
heninfan99
Talk Tennis Guru
Lucky guy
Hansen
Professional
yes, but more because of regression to the mean
tennisBIEST
Professional
What a great move by Yonex! I wouldn't underestimate Stevie. Dude is a born winner!
Andy Murray Is Goat
Rookie
YONEX ON THE WAY UP! I can not wait for it to become a main stream brand I like there rackets more than bablat and wilson
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kimguroo
Legend
I don't think Yonex never wants to be a major tennis company since they are dominant in Badminton business ( their dominance in badminton business is not even close to tennis business since there are several main companies). Yonex is very lucky (or smart) that they maximize their investment (endorsement money). I still think Wawrinka deal was steal.
anyway they need someone who will play with SV line so it can be good deal for both of them. Hope he won't need adjustment periods.
heninfan99
Talk Tennis Guru
they must offset the tankishness of kyrgios with another fighter. smarth move
I heard that Yonex pays the highest in terms of endorsements.
Andy Murray Is Goat
Rookie
I want to be team yonex now lol
kimguroo
Legend
Remember Wawrinka deal was $20 mil for 4 years and this deal includes everything (Racket, bag and head to toe: apparels). He only got 5 mil per a year.
Andy Murray has better result but his UA deal is over $6mil per a year but racket deal was not included so it will be much higher than Wawrinka.
Honestly Wawrinka should get $7-8 mil per a year to be fair in my opinion.
In my opinion, Yonex won't spend too much money for endorsements unless they really like certain players (I am talking about tennis only. I am positive that Yonex spends highest endorsement money for badminton since they dominates badminton business). They are very loyal to their players and most of players are loyal to Yonex so both sides have good relationships.
If Yonex pays highest endorsement money, there was no reason that verdasco's deal was canceled in the last min.
They could simply match Dunlop's deal. Most of people were surprised that he just won a tournament with new Yonex racket then switched to Dunlop and his career went to south. Still think that it was a bad decision from Verdasco.
I think Verdasco is a different case since he changes racquets often being a headcase.
kimguroo
Legend
Different case?
When he was shopping around endorsement, he tried different rackets then finally picked Yonex RDIS200 (not sure the model) then he won a tournament. He even brought Yonex bag and stencil. everyone thought the deal was done but suddenly the deal was dead and changed to Dunlop. Looks like last min, Dunlop offered more money Than Yonex.
It's hard to believe that Verdasco did not like the racket which was used for a winning tournament.
I think his racket changing habit did not start until end of Technifabre contract (after Yonex trial).
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
OMG,,,HOLY Cow,,,,,,,,,,,,,, now he is going to break into Top 10 and threaten Berdy and Tsonga for top 5 position possibly...
jarko111
Hall of Fame
Yonex is making a smart move if you ask me. Stevie might take over as the #1 American - time is certainly on his side. Not bad to have the #1 American with your racquet. Sales will go up if Stevie goes up the ranks if only for a time.
Isner and Querrey are near or over 30. Johnson and Sock are going to play into their peak time for tennis these days 25-31.. and if Djokovic or Murray are out of a major (injury or whatever) someone will capitalize that wouldn't now that Nadal and Fed are simmering down.
I don't put much money on Jack Sock. I hope that Jack Sock will be a force but he seems to really struggle on faster courts.
Isner and Querrey are near or over 30. Johnson and Sock are going to play into their peak time for tennis these days 25-31.. and if Djokovic or Murray are out of a major (injury or whatever) someone will capitalize that wouldn't now that Nadal and Fed are simmering down.
I don't put much money on Jack Sock. I hope that Jack Sock will be a force but he seems to really struggle on faster courts.
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SinjinCooper
Hall of Fame
20 years old: 800's to 1000's in ranking
21 years old: 400's to 600's
22 years old: 200's to 400's
23 years old: 150's to 200's
24 years old: 40's to 100's
25 years old: 30's to 50's
26 years old: 20's to 30's
What regression are you imagining?
fundrazer
G.O.A.T.
Unless he makes some huge improvements after switching then I really doubt it's going to make any difference in racquet sales. It's not like he's an exciting player. Sock probably sells more racquets for Babolat then Johnson will for Yonex. Think about it this way, how many times do you hear commentators mention that Sock hits with as much or more spin than Rafa? That kinda stuff probably sticks in a kid's mind, and then he says mommy I want a pure aero/aero storm for my birthday.
kimguroo
Legend
I strongly think that Steve Johnson will bring new Yonex customers unless he wins GS but I don't see he has a chance to win GS now. He is 27 and probably he might have decent results for 3 years from now but he will start to decline after that. I don't know what was the deal from both Babolat and Yonex but when his contract was over, Steve thought he deserves more money from Babolat but Yonex offered more and Babolat decided to let him go.
I think he'll be able to increase Yonex's appeal here in the states if he continues to play well with the racquet change. He's a likable person. He's a gritty sort of working-man's player and that tends to appeal to the American crowd.
As far as him changing companies, obviously, he wants more money but why would he switch frames if he honestly felt he couldn't play well enough or better with the new frame versus the old frame? He most likely started trying racquets out late in the season (post-US Open) and things clicked with the SV 98s. The only limiting factor is confidence in using the new frames. The SV 98s are as good as anything Babolat has in its arsenal.
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
Who will benefit more from this deal ? Yonex or Steve ?
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
what is Porn Stash ???????????????I wonder if the Yonex contract requires him to bring back the porn 'stache:
Heck, now that I think about it, that porn 'stache may be the reason they signed him. They saw that thing & said 'We need that guy!'...
McLovin
Legend
A Porn Stash is someone's private stash of porn.
A Porn 'Stache is something so awesome, it simply cannot be described in words...
TahoeTennis
Legend
Hansen
Professional
no offense, i like johnsons game, but i still think he is a little bit of an overachiever
SinjinCooper
Hall of Fame
He may be doing a lot with a serve, a forehand, and a slightly better than average net game, but it's been nothing but year to year improvement his whole career thus far. There's no mean established to regress to when you're still on the upslope of your bell curve. He's going deeper on average at the Slams year after year. His earnings are going up annually. It's just the natural improvement you'd expect from a competent pro entering his prime.
haqq777
Legend
Time to update T Dub page: http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/player.html?ccode=SJOHNSON
cluckcluck
Hall of Fame
Too bad he's a giant arse
jarko111
Hall of Fame
He's been nothing but likable when I see him interviewed. What has he done that is arse-ish? I am just curious. My opinion can change.
Stevie has confidence, now. I see him possibly replicating what Tipsarevic did when he won a title. I don't see him doing as well at majors because that is just very rare with American men the last 4-5 years.. but he won a medal at the olympics, he won a title or two(?) - he has a ranking that will give him more opportunity.. we'll see.
Stevie has confidence, now. I see him possibly replicating what Tipsarevic did when he won a title. I don't see him doing as well at majors because that is just very rare with American men the last 4-5 years.. but he won a medal at the olympics, he won a title or two(?) - he has a ranking that will give him more opportunity.. we'll see.
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
had no idea that he used Tourbite... maybe he has some good feel for strings afterall.
and What Yonex frame is he switching to again ?????????? So Yonex will give him more forgiving Sweetspot......so it should get rid of most of the Steve's mishits and improve his game great deal.. Steve used to be a mishit machine,,,even more than RAFA himself.
lidoazndiabloboi
Hall of Fame
He uses VS Gut/Tour Bite Rough
The Yonex is a SV98
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
there is NO such thing as Tour bite Rough..........................LOL
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
oh yea,,,i see... The Diamond rough...........I heard a lot about that string,, it is CRAP. bad feel and bad control. Compared to RPM rough, it is bush league string. RPM rough blows it away in every category.
tennissavvy
Rookie
I was surprised...not in good way for sure...caroline changed from pure aero something to yonex...never recovered but again player to player different results
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
Ive hit with the 95 and the 100 and was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed them. I think the feel of racquets are getting back to normal.
It's obviously not the racquet as Caroline switched back to Babolat but still hasn't been able to establish herself in the top 10 again.
