Naomi looks to evolve, Rafael Nadal's work ethic and Italian 'derby' wows home crowd - Rome diary

Osaka’s big move Big news broke on Wednesday as Sportico’s Kurt Badenhausen reported that Naomi Osaka has left IMG to set up her own sports agency, EVOLVE, alongside her long-time agent Stuart Duguid. Ad/> Osaka, who landed at No.20 on Sportico’s 2022 list of highest-earning athletes in the world, is the highest-paid sportswoman on the planet and according to the publication has made $53.2 million over the past 12 months. WTA RomeReturning Swiatek crushes Ruse for loss of just three games7 HOURS AGO “Going out on her own and doing her own agency with her long-time agent Stu Duguid is a natural progression; because we’ve seen it before with guys like LeBron (James) and Roger Federer.

You reach the point where the big agency kind of outlives its usefulness because you are your own business,” said Badenhausen in a conversation on Twitter Spaces on Wednesday, after breaking the story. “It’s ownership. Everything will stay in-house; as these athletes get bigger and bigger, they’re writing bigger and bigger cheques, in terms of the percentage, the commission on their endorsement deals.

“She and Stuart I think will look to add a couple of clients. But this is not going to grow into something big. But it just gives them some flexibility in terms of what they can do, in terms of the kind of deals they can do.” Four-time major champion Osaka is following in the footsteps of Federer, who split from IMG to start his own agency with his agent Tony Godsick back in 2013.

The difference is Federer launched Team8 when he was 32 years old whereas Osaka has made the aged just 24. “You look at what Team8 is with Roger Federer and Tony Godsick, I think that is kind of a prototype for what they’ve done. Because the agency and Roger are both