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By Blair Henley
June 29, 2013

Rafael Nadal Eric Babolat WIMBLEDON, England -- When news broke that Babolat had inked a five-year deal with Wimbledon to be the official shoe sponsor of The Championships, it may have raised an eyebrow or two. After all, the company started producing footwear only 10 years ago.  But this is Babolat we’re talking about – they don’t waste any time. They entered the racquet business less than 20 years ago, and now have one of the most recognizable brands in the industry. They launched their own line of tennis balls in 2001 and became the official ball of the French Open just a decade later.
 
It’s safe to say that Pierre Babolat would have had a hard time comprehending what his little tennis string business would become when he started it in 1875. With a presence in 160 countries and 15,000 tennis shops across the world, Babolat is now one of the leading tennis specialty companies, topping racquet sales in five major countries including the U.S. and Spain. With players like Rafael Nadal, Li Na, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga endorsing their products, the French tennis powerhouse appears unstoppable. 
 
Babolat’s success has left many more established brands playing catch up. But CEO Eric Babolat, the fifth generation to head company operations, enjoys the rivalry.  

“Competition is the best way to innovate because it’s pushing everyone to get better,” he explained. "Tennis is a fight. If you’re on the court you are trying to beat the player in front of you, and that’s the example we try to follow.”

Babolat sat down with Tennis Now on a rainy morning at Wimbledon to discuss the innovative company that bears his name. One minute with the 43-year-old executive and you can sense a deep passion for the game. Holding a Babolat shoe in his hands, he explained why the company has had such enviable success from strings to racquets, to footwear and bags.

“They are all really technically different products, but the point in common is the players,” he said. “The player needs to play and improve their game.”
 
That athlete-centric focus has helped him build a close relationship with Rafael Nadal. Babolat laughed as he spoke about the Spaniard’s 2010 visit to the company headquarters in Lyon, France, where he experimented with a new, spin-improving string.
 
“We prepared a presentation with slides…and he looked at it and said, ‘I don’t understand. It’s too technical, but I’m sure it’s good.’”
 
That level of trust has become a hallmark of Babolat’s relationship with his players; they are simply part of his extended family. He even spoke to Nadal after his unexpected first-round Wimbledon loss.
 
“He’s a bit disappointed, but he’s a champion and he knows anything can happen,” he said. “I think it’s probably a issue of the time to adjust from clay to grass. He’s a fighter, so I’m sure he’ll be back.”
 
While the relationship with Nadal is a valuable one for the company, they lost two of their most familiar faces – Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters – to retirement last year. With 300 players (150 pros and 150 juniors) endorsed by Babolat in some capacity, the CEO is sure the next big star is just beyond the horizon.
 
“Among [those players], I’m sure is the future of Rafa and Andy and Kim,” he said with confidence. “The first champions we endorsed with our strings were the French “mousquetaires,” Mr. Lacoste and Suzanne Lenglen. Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras were playing with our strings. The relationship we have with the tennis planet is with players all over the world.”
 
Despite the partnership with Wimbledon, tennis shoes are possibly the least well known of the Babolat products. Though Andy Roddick wore the Propulse model before he hung up his racquet, Julien Benneteau is the only elite tour player currently sporting the shoe. But, given the company’s track record, we can expect that to change in the near future.
 
So what’s next for Babolat? They’ll soon be launching Babolat Play – a racquet utilizing handle sensors to provide players with useful performance data. Plug the racquet into your computer via a USB port under the butt cap and analyze away! Players will also have the ability to share the data with coaches (or friends, for gloating purposes). Babolat himself has learned a thing or two about his game.
 
“I know that I’m not so good at tennis,” he said with a chuckle, “but I was able to see if I was doing more forehands than backhands and the power of my stroke. I was impressed to see that my serve was stronger than I thought. It’s quite magical to visualize.”
 
Comparing run-of-the-mill racquets with the silent movies of old, Eric Babolat believes the time is coming where every racquet will be an “intelligent” one. And we can’t wait. 

(Photo Courtesy: Babolat)

 

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