“Having Rafa Nadal and ‘Carlitos’ is a luxury, they are two players with a lot of charisma,” the CEO of the French company was proud.
“Spain is the heart of paddle tennis, and that is why we want to manufacture the blades here,” he explained.
MADRID, 15 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The CEO of the Babolat sports equipment brand, Eric Babolat, stated that the collaboration with the Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz wants to go “beyond” 2030, and that the French company has opened a ‘Padel Studio’ in the Barcelona town of Sant Fruitós de Bages, 60 kilometers from Barcelona, because Spain, where the world headquarters of this sport is located, is the “heart of paddle tennis.”
“Having Rafa Nadal and ‘Carlitos’ Alcaraz is a luxury. Rafa is tennis history and Alcaraz is doing great things despite his youth. They are two players with a lot of charisma, and with Carlos we have signed a long-term contract, but “We want to be with him for a long time. Our relationship is, at least, until 2030, although we want to go further,” he commented in an interview with Europa Press.
Fifth generation of the saga that he founded, in 1875, even before the birth of the legendary London grass tournament of Wimbledon, the oldest tennis equipment company in the world, Eric Babolat took over at the age of just 28, after the tragic death of his father in a plane crash.
Currently, Babolat is present in 155 countries, has 20,000 points of sale, agreements with 25,000 clubs and has added padel and badminton to the tennis division with which it was forged after Pierre Babolat manufactured natural gut strings for musical instruments.
“I’m the only CEO who knows how to string rackets,” says Eric Babolat, who has been responsible for the racket manufacturer since 1994 and whose strings illuminated the successes of the heroes of yesteryear René Lacoste, Arthur Ashe and Bjorn Borg to the most current Pete Sampras, Roddick. , Kim Clijters, Caroline Wozniacki, Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.
EL PÁDEL AND ‘EL LOBO’ LEBRON
With more than 10 million players worldwide and 4 million rackets sold in 2022, padel is now one of Babolat’s main assets, the world headquarters has been in Madrid since 2015 and the Spanish Juan Lebron, ‘El Lobo’ , its main ambassador in a sport that is continually emerging in Spain, Argentina and Sweden.
“At Babolat we listen to the players, both the best and those who play for their club. Spain is where padel is played the most, it is the heart of padel and that is why we wanted to test, develop and manufacture the rackets here,” he stated. after presenting the strategic plan of the company based in Lyon in the financial heart of Madrid.
From the 55th floor of one of the five towers that rise in the old Real Madrid Sports City, Eric Babolat observes how Juan Lebron plays with a group of specialized journalists dressed in T-shirts and ‘hitting’ ‘El Lobo’ paddles, the first world collection dedicated by a brand to a paddler.
“A line with Alcaraz? For now it is not in our plans. We are proud that he started playing with a Babolat from the age of 10. We like to be by the players’ side, from when they start, not only when they win,” stressed the CEO of Babolat, a racket that ‘won’ its first ‘Grand Slam’ wielded by the Spanish Carlos Moyá, at Roland Garros in 1998.
On the horizon of the future of the Alcaraz ‘Pure Aero 98’ company, badminton also appears, whose headquarters are in Shanghai (China). “Carolina? She is an impressive player. The best players are Asian and Northern European, but she has broken the mold. We have our sights set on her,” he admitted.
Meanwhile, it proudly displays the ‘Padel Studio’ in Sant Fruitós de Bages, where a personalized service will be offered to players and the rackets of future champions will be built. “And soon, in 2025, we will celebrate our 150th anniversary, a milestone we are already working on,” he noted with the same brilliance that flooded ‘El Lobo’ Lebron’s gaze when presenting the series with his signature.