Babolat Brandography

Major Walter Clopton Wingfield established the rules of tennis in 1873 and in this moment the history of Babolat would be intertwined with tennis forever. Prior to the invention of tennis, Pierre Babolat was making natural gut strings for musical instruments, until British tennis racket manufacturer Bussey requested tennis string.

As tennis gained popularity in the 20^th century, players began to expect more from their equipment, demanding thinner strings with a higher tension. For several years, Babolat worked with the French “Musketeers” which included Henri Cochet and René Lacoste to develop the best strings, ultimately leading to VS natural gut. To this day the string is still made in France, with over 90% of the world’s natural gut coming out of the factory in Ploermel.

To learn where the name VS comes from, watch the video above.

In 1986, Babolat launched their first synthetic string, Elascord. Since then, they have created some of the top multifilament and polyester strings on the market, including Pro Hurricane & RPM Blast. Over the past 144 years, more than 100 Grand Slam titles have been won using Babolat strings and the number continues to rise.

In 1994, Pierre Babolat (4^th generation), decided to get into rackets, starting with Babolat’s Pure line of rackets. Carlos Moya’s victory at Roland Garros in 1998 with the Pure Drive legitimized Babolat as a racket company. That same year, tragedy struck the Babolat family, and Eric Babolat (5^th generation) took over the business. To uphold his father’s legacy, Eric Babolat pushed the Babolat team to continue their racket innovation.

Since 1994, Babolat has sponsored some of the greatest players of all time. Many started with Babolat rackets as juniors and continued playing with Babolat for the entirety of their careers. The Pure Drive’s legacy has continued with players such as Andy Roddick, Kim Clijsters, Li Na, Garbine Murguruza, and Fabio Fognini. Among amateur players it also continues to be one of the most popular racket lines today.

The Pure Aero, or AeroPro Drive as it was first called, took the power and maneuverability of the Pure Drive and added a frame design to maximize spin. When looking at the aggressive swing angle of Rafael Nadal; Babolat reworked the frame geometry to allow the racket to cut through the air, allowing the player to turn a faster swing into more spin.

Built for the modern player, the Pure Strike brings what Babolat call, “modern control” to the racket’s response. The result is a blend of power and spin with more feel and control when compared to the Pure Drive and Pure Aero rackets. Listening to feedback from players of the previous version, Babolat took things even further and engineered in more feel and control into the new Pure Strike.

With feedback from their pro players, club players and in-house playtesters, Babolat elevated the performance of an already impressive racket line. Babolat then married the improved playability to an aggressive cosmetic design giving the Pure Strike a distinctive look on court.

In the early 2000’s, following in the footsteps of their strings and frames, Babolat took its first steps into the footwear business. Babolat discovered that in tennis, 80% of movements are lateral or diagonal. They worked with their R&D team to develop shoes 100% dedicated to the movements in tennis. To ensure optimal traction and durability, Babolat partnered with MICHELIN, the world’s leading tire expert.

Recently, they added Guillaume Diard to their team. Guillaume is the son of HOKA ONE ONE founder, Jean-Luc Diard, and he has been in the running industry for years. He brought the Babolat shoes, apparel and bag industry to Annecy, France because it is the capital of the outdoor industry.

We look forward to seeing what the future holds for Babolat.