Even though she was spotted wearing Adidas apparel during a practice session in Paris ahead of the 2023 French Open, Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina kicked off the clay-court Grand Slam in Yonex gear, surprising the tennis world with her new clothing sponsor.
Beating Brenda Fruhvirtova in the first round of Roland Garros, the world No.4 Rybakina debuted her new Yonex gear: the Yonex Women’s Paris Tank, a V-neck design that catches the eye with its contrast rib-knit collar and binding on the armholes, and the navy version of the Yonex Women’s Paris Skirt, boasting box pleats all around and a built-in shortie for added convenience.
We first got indications of Rybakina’s new apparel deal when we saw her player card on the official Roland Garros website, where she is featured in the new pink Yonex top. A day after Rybakina’s first-round match, Yonex confirmed the partnership on Instagram, posting her photo in Yonex gear, with the caption: “Starting a new chapter with Elena Rybakina #Team Yonex.” Notably, Rybakina has been loyal to Yonex racquets, and now she complements her equipment lineup with the same brand.
It’s worth mentioning that during her opening match in Paris, the reigning Wimbledon champion Rybakina stayed loyal to Adidas tennis shoes, specifically the Avacourt model.
Adidas always have a habit of not retaining their top players. They lost Naomi Osaka. They lost Simona Halep (although that was because her camp wanted a big bonus which they could not pay). They lost Anett Kontaveit & Jelena Ostapenko, the top players from the Baltic states.
They never promoted Elena Rybakina even though she would have modelled their dresses (instead of the separates) very well with her tall lean straight frame (like Ana Ivanovic & Kristina Mladenovic). Oh well.
Well, if Yonex offered to pay the big bucks then why not! Penny makes a fair point, adidas can’t seem to retain their top players.
I suppose it is worth mentioning that Elena plays for Kazakhstan which is a Asian country, as is Yonex (Japan), so perhaps Yonex has a bigger reach in Kazakhstan and Elena is a high profile player within the Asian market