Babolat
French tennis, badminton, and padel equipment company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Babolat (/ˈbɑːboʊlɑː/) is a French tennis, badminton, pickleball, and padel equipment company, headquartered in Lyon, best known for its strings and tennis racquets which are used by professional and recreational players worldwide. The company has made strings since 1875, when Pierre Babolat created the first strings made of natural gut. Babolat continued to focus on strings until 1994, when it became a "total tennis" company, also producing racquet frames and selling them in Europe. It then expanded sales to Japan, and later to the United States in 2000. Sales of Babolat racquets increased rapidly in North America and Europe. Babolat is also a pioneer in connected sport technology and launched a connected tennis racket in 2014[1] and a connected wrist-worn tennis wearable with PIQ in 2015.[2] The Babolat Pop is one of the leaders in tennis sensors worldwide.
 | |
| Industry | Sports equipment |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1875 |
| Founder | Pierre Babolat |
| Headquarters | Lyon, France |
Key people | Éric Babolat (CEO) |
| Products | Racquets, strings, accessories and shoes |
| Revenue | €141.2 million (2014) |
Number of employees | 369 |
| Website | babolat.com |
Notable products
Strings
Some of the strings produced by Babolat include RPM Blast, one of the most popular polyester strings known for its spin potential, and VS Gut, a leading and original natural gut string.
Racquets
Babolat's current tennis racquet line-up includes Pure Drive, a power-oriented racquet used by players such as Carlos Moyá, Kim Clijsters, Andy Roddick and Li Na, Pure Aero (formerly AeroPro Drive), known for its spin potential and usage by Rafael Nadal, Caroline Wozniacki and Carlos Alcaraz, and Pure Strike, a control-oriented racquet used by players such as Dominic Thiem and Cameron Norrie.
Sponsorships
Some of Babolat's sponsored players include:[3]
Tennis
Men
Federico Delbonis
Jordan Thompson
Félix Auger-Aliassime
Shang Juncheng
Holger Rune
Carlos Alcaraz- Albert Ramos Viñolas
Arthur Cazaux- Arthur Fils
- Stéphane Houdet
- Benoît Paire
- Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
Cameron Norrie- Luke Watson
Fabio Fognini
Taro Daniel- Yosuke Watanuki
Alexander Shevchenko
Evgeny Donskoy
Elias Ymer- Mikael Ymer
Maxime Cressy- Ryan Harrison
- Sam Querrey
Women
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Retired players
- Mariano Puerta
- Samuel Groth
Dominic Thiem
Kim Clijsters- Kirsten Flipkens
Fernando González- Li Na
- Peng Shuai
Mirjana Lučić-Baroni
Kristýna Plíšková- Carlos Moyá
- Garbiñe Muguruza
- Rafael Nadal
Anett Kontaveit- Alizé Cornet
- Pauline Parmentier
- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
- Johanna Konta
Julia Görges- Francesca Schiavone
- Yūichi Sugita
Agnieszka Radwańska- Nadia Petrova
- Dinara Safina
- Elena Vesnina
Viktor Troicki
Timea Bacsinszky
Dominika Cibulková- CiCi Bellis
- Jack Sock
Badminton
Men
Women
Controversy
Despite initial statements indicating a cessation of business with Russia following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Babolat products remain available in the country. According to research from the Yale School of Management, Babolat’s operations in Russia are conducted through an independent distributor, with whom Babolat has reportedly ceased direct transactions. However, this distributor continues to sell Babolat products and identifies as a Babolat-affiliated distributor.[4][5]