Professional tennis player Novak Djokovic is the newly appointed face of Uniqlo. The 25-year old sportsman signed a 5-year partnership with the Japanese casual-wear brand and will debut his newly designed Uniqlo match wear to spectators this May 27 at the Roland-Garros French Open Tennis Tournament in Paris.

Tadashi Yanai, Chairman, President & CEO of leading global Japanese retailer Fast Retailing, said, “We are extremely pleased to have Novak Djokovic become UNIQLO’s global brand ambassador. We will use the most innovative fabrics and technologies to develop match wear that can contribute to the performance of a globally recognized and respected sports person like Novak. At the same time, UNIQLO will incorporate latest fabrics and technologies to co-develop with him the ultimate functional apparel that can be worn, and enjoyed, by people all over the world.”

The Djokovic x Uniqlo partnership also includes collaboration on future product lines, and co-development of functional-wear.

“I am honored, and also very excited, to have been appointed as the UNIQLO global brand ambassador. UNIQLO is a cool brand with strong roots in Japan, a country whose culture and way of life I respect. I have a personal philosophy which I call ‘Be Unique,’ and this is based on my strong passion, drive and eagerness to keep improving myself. I am passionate about being the best possible tennis player, as well as the best possible person, and I have a continuous desire to help people, especially children, who have been less fortunate than I.” Djokovic said, “I feel a natural connection with UNIQLO. To me, UNIQLO is not fast fashion, and it’s not sports wear. UNIQLO is the ultimate functional wear, which is exactly what I need as both a sports person and an individual who leads a very active life. I look forward to collaborating with UNIQLO in the development of new products and to getting to know the global UNIQLO family better.”