Rafael Nadal has passed on the baton of Spanish tennis to Carlos Alcaraz following his retirement at the Davis Cup 2024. Alcaraz will continue the tradition of tennis players from the country endorsing Babolat, a French tennis equipment brand. The company’s CEO, Eric Babolat, is well aware of the needs of both players, as he made an interesting comparison between their playstyles.
In an interview with AS.com, Babolat claimed that, like Nadal, they signed a deal with Alcaraz at the age of nine. Interestingly, both have also used the same version of the racket brand, the ‘Aero’ variant. However, for the CEO, the similarities end there. Babolat believes Alcaraz’s game is a “little more complete” than that of the recently retired veteran.
He said that Nadal was always looking for more spin in his racket to produce as much topspin as possible, but Alcaraz is seeking greater control. As a result, Babolat claimed they couldn’t play with each other’s rackets, despite being from the same Aero family.
“Rafa’s is a racket purely to give it more effect, while Alcaraz’s allows him to give a little more control to his game… His game is a little more complete than Rafa’s, you can see for example in the drop shots he does. So the needs of both are different.”
Alcaraz, who recently signed a deal with Babolat until 2030, is set to be the face of the brand that will celebrate 150 years of their existence next year. However, the Frenchman confirmed that their deal with Nadal has not expired and that they have plans for him as well.
“This is not even the end of Babolat’s story with Nadal. We are involved in a lot of Rafa’s activities like his academies in various countries, and I think there are new opportunities ahead of us,“ the CEO added.
At his peak, Nadal could have chosen a different path, but he decided to stay loyal to Babolat, which the company’s CEO praised greatly.
Babolat renewed Nadal’s contract for 10 years in 2007 after a lot of pressure
Given that Nadal was the most sought-after tennis player in the mid-2000s, Babolat acknowledged that they were under a lot of pressure to keep hold of him. So Babolat went out of the box and offered him a 10-year contract, a rare occurrence for a racket brand.
To Nadal’s credit, he did not succumb to the temptation of other brands and chose to remain with Babolat.
“In 2007, Rafa was very coveted by competing brands that bid hard for him, promised him many things, and it was difficult to have negotiations every three or four years to renew. That’s why we said we would make a 10-year contract, until 2017.”
Nadal was very cooperative and hands-on in making necessary improvements to his rackets every year. This reflects his humility and commitment – values that Babolat hopes Alcaraz and the next generation of players they sign will uphold for years to come.
2024-12-14 21:35:37