As this year’s French open kicked off in Paris this week, Italian champion Jannik Sinner debuted a new duffle bag on court as he readied for an intense match against Christopher Eubanks. No, it wasn’t a or Under Armour tote. It was a Gucci bag, made in collaboration with performance sports label Head.
Sinner is actually ’s newest brand ambassador and stars in the most recent global campaign, a partnership inked after he carried a GG monogram tote on court at last year’s Wimbledon tournament. The Italian house isn’t the only luxury label courting tennis stars. This month, cast on-court rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in its new campaign, in a striking image of the duo hiking the Italian Dolomites together each carrying an LV monogrammed backpack.
Historically, sports brands like Nike and Under Armour have owned the tennis space, sponsoring top athletes and casting them in their campaigns. But as broader excitement around the sport reaches new heights, luxury names see a chance to build on their own cultural cache and relevancy by teaming up with the sport’s biggest talents. Perhaps due to the strict rules surrounding tennis clothes, shoes and equipment, luxury brands were long hesitant to the explore the playing field.
Instead they turned to other sports such as football and basketball. In 2022, Gucci named footballer Jack Grealish as brand ambassador, he later went on to create his own Roblox avatar with the house. More recently, Arsenal footballer Bukayo Sa.