Why did Uniqlo drop Novak Djokovic? Check out how much his new deal is worth?

Novak Djokovic partnered with Japanese clothing and sports equipment manufacturer UNIQLO in 2012, but their alliance ended in 2018. Subsequently, French company Lacoste signed the 21-time Grand Slam champion to be their new Brand Ambassador.

The Serb's most lucrative deal is with Lacoste. The fashion brand pays approximately $9.4m (€8m) annually to serve as his kit supplier and as part of the deal, Lacoste also released a range of Djokovic-branded attire, known as the Novak Djokovic collection.

The 35-year-old has consistently earned above $25m annually since 2013 according to Forbes’ annual World’s Highest-Paid Athletes list. However, his earnings took a hit in 2017 as he struggled to make it to the latter stages of the year’s biggest tournaments.

His tournament winnings dropped from $9.6m in 2016 to $1.5m in 2017. Nevertheless, endorsement earnings of $22m meant that he still took home $23.5m despite a disappointing year on the court.

2017 French Open - Day Eleven

In June 2021, the 35-year-old placed 46th on the Forbes list of the 100 highest paid athletes in the world, the business magazine calculated his earnings over the previous 12 months at $34.5m. The figure broke down to $4.5m in on-court earnings and $30m from endorsements.

The former World No. 1 is guaranteed to earn millions regardless of how he performs, at least for the next few years. Going by Forbes’ numbers, 66% of the tennis star’s income has come from endorsements in the last six years.

Djokovic signs a new contract with Lacoste

Earlier this year, Djokovic was denied participation at the Australian Open because of his vaccine stance. Once it became clear that Djokovic was unvaccinated, many were curious to see how his sponsors would react.

Lacoste was under immense pressure from the media and their clients to terminate their contract with the Serb but they refused to go that route. The 21 time Grand Slam champion was back on tour at the Dubai Tennis Championships and the controversary had eased up significantly.

On his 35h birthday, the French heritage tennis brand Lacoste shared a warm message with Novak Djokovic on their Twitter handle.

With the current deal, the World No. 7 is set to be a part of the Lacoste family until at least 2025. He was quick to acknowledge the message and also pledged to represent the brand graciously in the future.

“Challenges always present themselves, so to say, but I think they made a good choice and I am grateful. I will try to represent the Lacoste brand just like I did up until now, in the best possible way. After all, it is a brand with great tradition, one of the greatest in tennis, and I am proud to wear the crocodile on my shirt,"