"Maria Sharapova wanted to win first, second, third, and fourth" - Iga Swiatek's mentality compares to that of Russian icon, says sports agent

Iga Swiatek's career off the court has also taken off, with the world No. 1 bagging 5th spot on Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid female athletes, largely facilitated by her on-court dominance in 2022, along with her her growing brand associations. The Polish superstar's agent, Max Eisenbud, who is Maria Sharapova's former agent, believes Swiatek is quite similar to Sharapova in terms of her approach towards her career.

According to Eisenbud, Swiatek's top-most priority is on-court success and consistently winning the world's biggest tournaments, which was also the case with Sharapova. He revealed that Swiatek has conveyed to brands that endorsement deals are below tennis on her list of priorities and that she is respected for her up-front attitude.

The three-time Grand Slam champion recently signed with IMG and is working closely with Eisenbud, who is the Vice President of IMG tennis. Speaking about the newest tennis superstar on his roster, which also includes Li Na (formerly) and Emma Raducanu, along with Sharapova, Eisenbud highlighted the similarities between the approaches of both Iga Swiatek and Maria Sharapova.

"There are a lot of similarities to Sharapova: Maria wanted to win first, second, third, and fourth. Iga wants to win the same," Eisenbud told Tennis Majors.

While many believe that this approach of giving lesser importance and time to endorsement activities can be detrimental to a player's off-court career, Eisenbud, who has been in the business for a long time, believes the exact opposite and suggests that brands respect Swiatek for her focus on winning.

"And I think when you’re talking to brands, and you tell them ‘listen, you might not have as much time with her as maybe others because she’s so focused and wants to win’, usually the brands are excited about that," Eisenbud added.

"It’s just something you’re upfront with the brand. And nobody’s surprised when you talk to them like that."

The American sports agent further highlighted Iga Swiatek's brand attractiveness, saying that the Polish superstar has a lot to offer besides her on-court brilliance, which is highly important in itself for potential brand partners.

He also feels that the two-time French Open champion's "real and humble" personality is highly appreciated and the fact that such an attitude translates to her social media presence also works in her favor, from a brand standpoint.

"There are a lot of brands out there that want to be associated with her for many reasons," Eisenbud continued. "She’s got a lot of things to offer, besides being a great player and showing up consistently, week in and week out, which is something that we haven’t had in women’s tennis in a while."

"And that’s attractive to brands, obviously, but her unique personality and the fact that she’s very real and humble are also attractive to brands. On social media, she’s very good and very authentic and a lot of brands look at social."

"If something really matches up, then we’ll pursue it" - Max Eisenbud explains where Iga Swiatek's brand approach will differ from Maria Sharapova

Iga Swiatek in action at the 2023 Australian Open.

Reflecting on Maria Sharapova's association with brands soon after her historic Wimbledon 2004 achievement, sports agent Max Eisenbud revealed that he and the Russian tennis icon had identified 16-17 days a year that she could devote to shooting endorsement campaigns. Those 16-17 days were spread out, keeping in mind that Sharapova's time on the court was not compromised at all.

Despite the similarities between Sharapova and Iga Swiatek's mentality, Eisenbud believes Swiatek will give even less time to sponsor activities off the court than Sharapova did, and take up only those deals which she truly feels connected to.

"I don’t see Iga having the desire to come anywhere close to 16 or 17 days," Eisenbud suggested.

"If something really makes sense, if something really matches up, and the values are the same, then we’ll pursue it."

As Iga Swiatek's agent, Eisenbud has the responsibility of "not screwing up" her plans with regards to tennis.

"The mandate here is for me not to screw up everything that she’s doing," he stated.