Babolat Celebrates its Partnership With Roland-Garros With Passion!

PARIS, May 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Rafael Nadal, Kim Clijsters, Andy Roddick, Na Li and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. All the grand champions responded to the invitation from Babolat, who today celebrated its return to Roland-Garros as official supplier, 24 years after having been the official stringer of the tournament.

To mark this occasion, Babolat assembled, for the first time in its history, players from its professional team, juniors and former champions. No fewer than 60 legendary players including the winners of the 2010 French Open-Rafael Nadal and Francesca Schiavone-posed alongside Jean Gachassin, President of the French Tennis Federation and Eric Babolat, CEO of the eponymous brand.

Photo 1: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20110520/456231-a

Eric Babolat also lent a "stringing" hand in the Babolab. Accompanied by six esteemed stringers in the world of tennis, the CEO paid tribute to the stringing industry recalling his early days on the Babolat stringing team. The work of stringers is in fact very important as the strings count for 50% of the racquet's performance.

During the fortnight, Babolat is providing stringing service for all tournament players. Sixteen stringers, selected from among thousands in the world, will touch over 3500 racquets and use 42,000 meters of string over the course of the tournament! The inventor of the tennis string will also demonstrate its expertise to the public in the new RG Lab 2050 entertainment area during the tournament.

Photo 2: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20110520/456231-b

Babolat also invited 150 employees, who came from around the world, to share in this exceptional moment backstage at Roland-Garros.

A video of Babolat Day is available at the following address:

http://tinyurl.com/5s8p83p

Media Relations: Agency KETCHUM PLEON

julie.ferroux@ketchumpleon.fr - +33(0)1-56-02-35-11 ou +33(0)6-16-01-27-34

anne.jannez@ketchumpleon.fr - +33(0)1-53-32-55-81 ou +33(0)6-14-96-41-76

Babolat US website : http://www.babolat.com/#/tennis/us