Babolat's history

🎥 Jan 01, 2005 📺 Millet Sports ⏱ 5m 👁 6540 views

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About Eric Babolat

In 2012, Eric Babolat presented the "Play & Connect" prototype racquet at Roland Garros, describing it as "la première raquette communicante" (the first communicating racquet). He stated that the racquet would allow players to obtain information about their game, improve their play, and share data with others via a community platform. Babolat noted that the company had explained the project to the tennis community in January and had tested it with a professional player in February. He outlined next steps, including making prototypes available to development teams in September 2012 for testing with academies, professional players, and amateurs worldwide, with a goal of launching a product in 2013. In a separate overview of Babolat's history, Eric Babolat stated that the company was founded in 1875 by his great-great-grandfather, who invented the first tennis string. He noted that his father entered the racquet industry in 1994, and that he himself decided to launch a range of apparel and footwear in 2003. Babolat also remarked on the company's practice of signing young players, saying, "We signed Rodic when he was 16. Kener is at 13. Nadal at 11."

Source: AI-verified profile updated from Eric Babolat's recent appearances. Browse all interviews →

Transcript (12 segments)

Eric Babolat0:11

Hi, I'm Eric Babolat. Babolat was founded in 1875 in Lyon, France. Come on in.

My great-great-grandfather, Pierre Babolat, invented the first tennis string.

The first strings were made of natural gut. In 1925, we developed the famous VS natural gut.

Since then, we have won more than 100 Grand Slam titles with it.

In 1994, my father Pierre Babolat decided to enter the racket industry. Four years later, Carlos Moya won the French Open.

This is where rackets of some of our champions are prepared with lead tape. Rackets for our champions are taken from the same inventory as the rackets that are shipped to our retailers.

In 2003, I decided to launch a range of apparel and footwear products.

All Babolat products are designed and developed by our research and development.

For Babolat, competition is a winning team with charismatic players. Tennis runs in our blood.

To build a strong relationship with the brand, we find our champions when they're young.

We signed Roddick when he was 16, Gaël Monfils at 13, Nadal at 11.

We're 130 years young and just getting started.