Coco Gauff's influence has been demonstrated by SportsPro, which ranked her as the top tennis player on its list of the most marketable athletes.
Gauff has drawn a unique amount of attention since reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2019 as a 15-year-old. Her run to that stage included a triumph against Venus Williams, whom she idolized growing up.
She is already starting to live up to those expectations, winning the US Open last year and securing the second WTA-1000 title of her career at the China Open after defeating Karolina Muchova.
Gauff also inspires as a woman of color in a predominantly white sport. The 20-year-old has spoken about how Venus and Serena Williams helped her deal with sticking out like a sore thumb when she started in tennis.
Last year's US Open champion also has a natural charisma off the court and a playing style that appealingly combines power and athleticism, encouraging fans to watch her play.
SportsPro, a UK-based company that provides insights into sponsorship, broadcast, technology, and endorsement deals, defines marketability as "the extent to which the individual influences a consumer's propensity to buy something."
That can apply to a ticket to an event, a piece of merchandise, a subscription, pay-per-view access, or anything else. The company has made a list of the 50 athletes it deems to be the most marketable.
SportsPro ranks athletes using three metrics. The first is brand strength, which is determined by factors like authenticity, in-sport performance, and the athlete's purpose, mission, and values.
The second metric is the total addressable market. It considers overall reach, attention growth, social sentiment, audience engagement, and sponsor, sport, and team awareness.
The final metric is economics, which encompasses market value and net worth, support for environmental causes, and generation of social and community benefits through their actions, influence, and engagements.
Gauff is the top tennis player on SportsPro's list of the most marketable athletes, at No. 13. The American has a perfect 30/30 for the economics metric and 31.78/35 for brand strength.
Novak Djokovic is next on the list at No. 18. His brand strength is very high at 33.16/35, but he has an economics score of 22.70/30, which is the principal reason for his ranking below Gauff.
Carlos Alcaraz is No. 29. The Spaniard's brand strength is 29.24/35, and he scored 28.78/35 for the total addressable market metric. However, his economics score of 16.97/30 stopped him from ranking higher.
Rafael Nadal, who will retire from professional tennis next month at the Davis Cup Finals, is ranked No. 34 on SportsPro's list. The 22-Grand Slam champion's brand strength metric is high at 32.24/35, but he scored 18.16/30 for economics.
Aryna Sabalenka, the new No. 1 in controversial fashion this week, is No. 38. ATP No. 1 Jannik Sinner and Naomi Osaka are in SportsPro's Top 50 most marketable athletes at Nos. 47 and 48, respectively.
Iga Swiatek, who had dominated the No. 1 ranking on the WTA Tour until this week, is No. 50 on SportsPro's list, making her the eighth-highest-ranked tennis player. Her score of 7.37/35 for the total accessible market is the biggest reason for not being ranked higher.
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