Iga Swiatek has a particularity with her shoes at Roland-Garros. image: freshfocus/keystone
The world number 1 will face the Czech Karolina Muchova in the final on Saturday in Paris (3:00 p.m.). Coveted by Roger Federer himself, she signed with the Zurich shoes On. But there is a problem.
10.06.2023, 11:4810.06.2023, 12:02
Simon Häring / paris
If the story is not true, it is at least well made up and even better told: a shoe made from a garden hose in a garage in Zollikon (ZH) is now a global product, more beautiful and more comfortable than anything that came before.
This is how the Swiss shoe brand On, of which Roger Federer became a shareholder in 2019, tells the story.
“We” want to conquer the world of tennis with the Polish Iga Swiatek. image: Jean-Francois Badias/AP
The next chapter is entitled “The Swiss sports brand On conquers the world of tennis”. Because at On, only the best is good enough: the Swiss brand signed Iga Swiatek last March, with great financial resources. The world number 1 won Roland-Garros and the US Open in 2022. Roger Federer personally approached the 22-year-old Pole, who was highly coveted by equipment manufacturers, Swiatek said in March.
Iga Swiatek will be playing in the future with a bespoke version of ‘THE ROGER Pros’ shoe. Federer helped develop it and wore it in March 2021 in Doha, when he returned after a year-long hiatus.
A luxury substitute, a Gringo and some trust
Iga Swiatek has been wearing clothes from the Zurich brand since April, but not her shoes. In Paris, she bets – as in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome – on the “Gel Resolution” of the Japanese competitor Asics, with whom she was under contract from 2020 to the end of 2022. According to our information, Asics has done everything to keep the Pole under contract, but could not compete with On’s more financially lucrative offer. To replace Swiatek, Asics has partnered with Olympic champion Belinda Bencic.
At On, shoes remain the main product. So why doesn’t Iga Swiatek wear shoes from her new equipment supplier, she who is now an emblematic figure of the latter?
Iga Swiatek at Roland-Garros: On socks, but Asics shoes. image: Freshfocus
The answer: as various sources have confirmed to CH Media (which owns watson) On shoes do not yet meet Swiatek’s expectations. Already when signing the contract, the Pole wrote on social networks:
“Shoes are of paramount importance to me as a tennis player. As the process of developing a unique shoe takes time, I will only play with On shoes later”
Iga Swiatek, signing her partnership with On in March
For this development, she would be accompanied by Federer and the innovation team.
The “On” brand only responds briefly to concrete questions: it explains that each new product is the result of close collaboration between the athletes and the design team. The shoe must be suitable for both “their unique style of play (red: to tennis(wo)men) and their specific needs for the different playing surfaces”, specifies the Zurich firm.
An amazing response. Indeed, in March, “On” also signed the American Ben Shelton in addition to Swiatek and gave the impression that the shoe was already available when the company wrote in its official press release:
“The competition tennis shoe was developed in close cooperation with the two players, Roger Federer and On in Switzerland, to meet the demands of the individual playing style of the two tennis stars.”
On’s press release
But while Shelton has already been playing with On shoes since the start of the clay-court season in early April, Swiatek is not yet confident in this new material.
Ben Shelton (here in Geneva) has been playing in On shoes since early April. image: Freshfocus/Laurent Daspres
The der’ of Federer and a triumph Parisian
“We” do not comment on the question of how long it takes to adapt the already existing shoe to the needs of the Pole and what difficulties are encountered. The brand also doesn’t say if Swiatek has ever trained with the shoe. The testing process is underway, “and we look forward to presenting the new shoes from Iga in the near future,” adds the Swiss company.
Yet the On tennis shoe is anything but new. Roger Federer himself wore them in 2021 on three different surfaces in the space of a few weeks, with soles adapted to each of them: on hard in Doha, on clay in Geneva and Paris, and on grass during his last tournament at Wimbledon. Since last fall, the Canadian Leylah Fernandez, finalist of the US Open in 2021, is also the first woman to bet on the Swiss product.
In 2021, Federer played his last tournament at Wimbledon in On shoes. image: Image: Yoan Valat/EPA
It is therefore quite possible that Iga Swiatek will win her fourth Grand Slam title on Saturday in Paris wearing clothes from the On shoe brand, but not her shoes. To the chagrin of the Swiss brand, but to the delight of Asics, the Japanese firm continues to enjoy despite itself the aura of the world number 1.
French adaptation: Yoann Graber
