Before Frances Tiafoe could begin his Delray Open campaign in Florida, he had to go through a tennis experience usually reserved for high-school graduates: Being approached by someone brandishing a marker pen.
This was no senior, but chair umpire Joshua Brace. Brace approached Tiafoe, the No. 8 seed, and began scribbling over a white logo on his upper chest. The American laughed, and pointed at another logo elsewhere on his sleeveless black top.
Once Brace was done, the formerly white Barclays bank patch on Tiafoe’s top was — partly — covered up. Satisfied, Brace returned to the chair, and Tiafoe’s match with Rinky Hijikata of Australia could begin.
When it was over, Tiafoe had a 6-4, 6-4 win to his name, as well as a signal example of one of tennis’ more obscure rules.
The ATP Tour stipulates that players can have two logos on the front of their shirts, whether they have sleeves or are sleeveless. The manufacturer logo (in Tiafoe’s case, his clothing sponsor Lululemon) is included in the count, so Tiafoe’s two further logos, one for human resources company UKG and one for Barclays, were in violation of the tour’s rules.
Tiafoe ordinarily positions the UKG logo on his sleeve, where players are allowed two further logos, but because this kit was sleeveless, he had run out of space — and logo inventory. There are also rules about logo size, but Tiafoe did not fall foul of these.
Francies Tiafoe at the Dallas Open, with his sponsor patches on his shirt sleeves. (Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
While top-30 players like Tiafoe, who has a career-high ranking of 10, will have year-round sponsorships, the business of tennis fashion and deals hots up around sleeve and shirt patches at bigger tournaments. Opportunist brands will broker deals with up-and-coming players who make deep runs at majors, providing lower-ranked players with a lucrative boost purely by sewing, or screen-printing, a small logo onto their shirt for just one match. Fees can run into the tens of thousands of dollars even for players outside the top 50, and even higher for more famous players.
Tiafoe will face Zachary Svajda or Aleksandar Kovacevic in his next match.