Junior tennis star, Tommy Paul, has signed with Team8 Global, as reported by ESPN’s Darren Rovell on Twitter.
Team8 Global is a Cleveland-based, boutique sports management firm, whose 2013 creation was spearheaded by tennis icon, Roger Federer, and his agent, Tony Godsick, shortly after the two left IMG in 2012.
As a junior, Paul went 1-and-1 in Junior Grand Slam finals, winning the 2015 French Open singles title against Taylor Harry Fritz, but losing the 2015 U.S. Open, dropping the match to the same opponent.
As of September 14, 2015, Paul has earned a career-high ATP singles ranking of 345 as well as securing two ITF singles titles. While qualifying for the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time at the 2015 U.S. Open, Paul realized a prompt exit as he dropped his first-round match to Andreas Seppi.
Team8 prides itself on exclusivity. In a phone interview with the New York Times, Godsick explained that the firm’s intention at the outset was to manage “just a small stable of iconic athletes.” He continued, “[s]ome of the other groups . . . look to sign as many players as they can and hope a few of them stick and make it. . . . We’re not going to.”
Adding insight from a different perspective, agent Max Eisenbud, who remains with the larger IMG, also told the New York Times that certain advantages exist when representing global stars as part of a big agency. “I just don’t think I could manage my global clients on my own,” Eisenbud stated, while crediting the large firm’s global resources and manpower.
While touting that “small is the new big” and focusing solely on tennis at the moment, Godsick hinted at the possibility of signing a leading golfer in the future.