# Babolat

Babolat (/ˈbɑːboʊlɑː/) is a French tennis, badminton, 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, producing also 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 and a connected wrist-worn tennis wearable with PIQ in 2015. The Babolat Pop is one of the leaders in tennis sensors worldwide.

## 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.

## Sponsorships

Some of Babolat's sponsored players include:

### 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

* Yanina Wickmayer
* Leylah Fernandez
* Wang Xinyu
* Zheng Saisai
* Camila Osorio
* Ana Konjuh
* Karolína Plíšková
* Caroline Wozniacki
* Clara Burel
* Heather Watson
* Lucia Bronzetti
* Sara Errani
* Yulia Putintseva
* Alexandra Eala
* Jennifer Brady
* Sofia Kenin
* Laura Pigossi

#### 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

* Koceila Mammeri
* Lucas Corvée
* Ronan Labar

#### Women

* Tanina Mammeri
* Chloe Birch
* Qi Xuefei
* Anne Tran

## 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.