Chris evert reacts in disbelief to comments about good-looking tennis players being more marketable than others
Tennis legend Chris Evert recently reacted to a social media post that spoke about the marketability of players and how sometimes, it becomes more important than performance in women’s tennis.
That opinion was first heard on an episode of the 'La Fileu' podcast which featured Sorana Cirstea, where she discussed the many factors taken into consideration by marketers while signing players, including their looks.
The Romanian, who was sponsored by Adidas from 2006 to 2016, recalled her interaction with the brand's marketing team who discussed how a good-looking, top-20 player would get them more exposure by playing in more tournaments than the World No 1 who wasn't as good to look at.
Cirstea, however, did not agree with that assessment. While she did understand that good looks help sell a brand, she stated that they ideally must not supersede a player's talent for the game.
When the Twitter post caught her eye, a seemingly exasperated Evert used facepalm emojis to convey her sentiments.
🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️ twitter.com/chaitanya9122/…
“Great Britain sells and Spain also sells, Eastern Europe doesn't sell; it depends a lot on you, on your personality" - Sorana Cirstea on what it takes for tennis players to market themselves beyond geographical factors
In the same podcast, Sorana Cirstea also spoke about how a tennis player's geography might be a consideration in deciding his/her overall marketability. However, she added that one can go beyond the same with a strong and individualistic personality.
The World No. 38 stated that certain markets did better than others and hence companies sometimes gave preference to players from those parts of the world.
"For example, the best paid: American, Chinese, Japanese! From Japan there is Osaka, for example. Rupe! She was the highest paid athlete in all sports in recent years. It's the market! Great Britain, too, sells. Spain, the same," Cirstea said, adding, "Eastern Europe doesn't really sell!"
That said, the Romanian emphasized that an individual's personality is something that can go beyond these factors. She believes that the way athletes present themselves and inspire others outweighs other marketing considerations.
"It's not the same and it depends a lot on you, on your personality! What you inspire, how you present yourself! That matters a lot too." she stated.