PARIS - Kyle Edmund has signed a major new four-year sponsorship deal with Nike that shows great confidence in the potential of the world No. 50.
The agreement with the apparel manufacturer is reportedly worth a seven-figure sum, although much of it is thought to be bonus related.
"The details are confidential but I can confirm Kyle has signed a new deal with Nike," the 22-year-old's agent, Lawrence Frankopan, told ESPN Wednesday.
Andy Murray is comfortably Britain's most marketable tennis player but Edmund's clothing contract may put him in the same league as Johanna Konta, who made the Wimbledon semifinals this year.
Attracting such interest cannot harm the quietly-spoken British No. 3's confidence, something many believe has been holding him back.
Edmund's game, unusually for a UK player, is well suited to clay and while his movement may need work, his all-round game is strong.
He has already earned nearly £1.6 million ($2.1m) since turning professional in 2012 and hopes a new coaching set up will help him add to that with his first title on the men's Tour.
Edmund is now working with veteran Swede Frederik Rosengren with former British player Mark Hilton, although they will seldom both be at the same tournament.
They are here at the Paris Masters, where Edmund had to dig deep to beat Russian Evgeny Donskoy in the first round, to get to know each other. He was due to face America's Jack Sock in the second round Wednesday.
"I want it all to happen now but there's definitely a big stadium court win in the later rounds in there somewhere, and I've got close a few times," Edmund told the Daily Mail newspaper. "I lost in a deciding set to [Milos] Raonic, Stan Wawrinka and Rafael [Nadal] this year. It's a question of getting across the line but I am sure it will happen."
