Sergio Tacchini

Sergio Tacchini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsɛrdʒo takˈkiːni]; born 2 September 1938) is an Italian fashion designer of sportswear and former professional tennis player. The sportswear firm bearing his name is located in Bellinzago Novarese,[3] Novara, Italy.

Sergio Tacchini
Country (sports) Italy
Born (1938-09-02) 2 September 1938
Singles
Career record7–17
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open2R (1961)
French Open2R (1960, 1961)
Wimbledon2R (1960, 1962, 1965)
US Open3R (1966)
Doubles
Career record1–2
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open1R (1961)[1]
Wimbledon2R (1963)[2]
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Wimbledon2R (1966)[2]
Team competitions
Davis CupF (1960Ch)

Tennis career

Sergio Tacchini became a professional tennis player at age 17 by entering the Tennis Club of Milan in 1955. In 1960 he won the title of the Italian Champion over Nicola Pietrangeli. He also competed in the Davis Cup, counting five victories in singles and one in doubles in a total of fifteen matches. He took another two Italian titles in doubles, with Pietrangeli as his partner, in 1967 and 1968.

Business

In 1966, Sergio Tacchini founded Sandys S.p.A. which was to be renamed after Tacchini himself a few years later. The initial idea was to experiment with colours and fabrics to create elegant and stylish tenniswear, at a time when white dominated the players' clothes. However the project expanded to other sports such as ski, fitness, golf and sailing, as well as leisure wear. The mid-eighties saw Sergio Tacchini issue the "Dallas" tracksuit.

The firm went into bankruptcy in 2007 and was purchased in 2008 by Hong Kong Chinese businessman Billy Ngok, owner of Hembly International[4] and associate of American businessman Ron Burkle.[5] In 2011, the firm's annual revenue were reported to be "less than €50 million (US$71 million)."[3] A report at the time of the firm's purchase said the price was EUR27m (US$42.3m), and that Ngok "planned to open 120 shops in mainland China in the next three years."[6] A 2011 report said the firm had "more than 100 Tacchini stores worldwide."[3]

Sponsorships

Many athletes joined the Sergio Tacchini brand over the years. Most of them were well-known tennis players from the 1970s and 1980s such as Jimmy Connors, Vitas Gerulaitis, Ilie Năstase, Mats Wilander, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Sergi Bruguera, Pat Cash, Gabriela Sabatini, Pete Sampras,[7] and Martina Hingis. Goran Ivanišević was sponsored by the firm when he won Wimbledon in 2001[8] and Novak Djokovic was sponsored when he won the Australian Open for the second time, and Wimbledon, in 2011.[3] The firm has also sponsored the 1983 Italian basketball team in the European Cup, the skiers Pirmin Zurbriggen and Marc Girardelli, Formula 1 drivers such as Ayrton Senna and Carlos Reutemann and the golfer Ian Woosnam.

In the 1980s, Tacchini and Fila led in tennis sponsorship, but in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Nike and Adidas moved into, and took the lead in, sponsoring the top athletes in the sport.[3]

At present, sponsored athletes include sailor Karine Fauconnier (Transat Jacques Vabre and Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race) and English cricketer Ian Bell.

Djokovic signed a 10-year deal with Tacchini in November 2009. At the time of signing, he was fourth in the ATP rankings and had won only one Grand Slam title. In 2011, he became the world No. 1 and winner of 48 of 49 matches on the professional tour. Under the terms of the deal, Djokovic receives "incentive bonuses linked to tournament wins and end-of-year rankings, ... a share of all Tacchini revenue from sales in China, and [a share of] worldwide revenue from Djokovic-branded Tacchini products."[3] After his Wimbledon victory, he traveled with Ngok and Burkle to Serbia to discuss plans for investment, including a Tacchini plant, in the Niš area.[5] Tacchini, however, "fell behind on the payments in 2011 as Djokovic's success triggered significant bonuses". Their association ended in May 2012.[9]

Individually sponsored cricket players
Present
Past

See also

References
  1. Australian Open Results Archive Archived 21 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Wimbledon Results Archive
  3. Mamudi, Sam, "Djokovic dominance boosts Sergio Tacchini", MarketWatch, 27 July 2011, 11:46 a.m. EDT. On 11 September 2011 at 3:41 pm EDT, a revised article (for the US Open) with the same ("-07-27") web address, headline and, it seems largely, content was substituted for the 27 July article. Retrieved 2011-07-28, 12 September 2011.
  4. "About us: Mr. Ngok Yan Yu Billy", Hembly webpage. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  5. "Djokovic's associates Ron Burkle and Billy Ngok to open two plants near Nis", eKapija, 7 July 2011 10:58. Djokovic pictured with Vuk Jeremic, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Republic of Serbia. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  6. "HONG KONG: Hembly chairman buys Sergio Tacchini", just-style.com, 6 June 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  7. Mamudi, Sam, "Djokovic dominance boosts Sergio Tacchini." Picture with caption "Sampras dons Sergio Tacchini while hoisting US Open trophy in 1990."
  8. "Wimbledon Men Singles Final 2001 (Last Game 'Ivanisevic serves to Championship')" on YouTube video. In the opening of the video – at the 20-second point – and at later points, Ivanišević's shirt quite clearly appears to bear the Tacchini logo. The logo is basically circular (a circle just broken below-left and above-right of the horizontal center line, to create the "S"); with the "T" inside, with the horizontal just above the center line of the circle and the vertical going to just inside the circle at the bottom center. See goodlogo.com and Sergio Tacchini shop web pages.
  9. "The World's 100 Highest-paid athletes: #61 Novak Djokovic", Forbes, statistics year: 2011.
  10. "Djokovic switches sponsor to Sergio Tacchini". USA Today. 21 November 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
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