In the corridors, with lively screen prints, it’s impossible to miss it. Nadal’s face is even displayed on the door of the boss’s office. Rather his faces: two photos telling the introspection of a change of sides, two looks separated by almost a quarter of a century. The kid and the master. A racket placed next to it, handle against the bench; the same brand, Babolat.
At the company’s headquarters, we are between two waters, and not because the Saône flows beneath the windows and the Rhône not far away. Disturbed both by the champion’s impending bow and filled with pride as he measured the extent of the shared journey. Throughout his life as a tennis player, Nadal hit French and it was built here. Translation into figures: 1,250 rackets – none broken – and more than 300 kilometers of string provided.
Obviously, no one fell out of their chair when, an hour or two before the official announcement, Carlos Costa, the agent, informed of the end clap and its terms. Éric Babolat, CEO since 1998 of the family business created in 1875, and Jean-Christophe Verborg, his competition director, will not miss this. The duo has been immersed in the Nadal clan for a long time, both sporting and family.
The post-Grand Slam celebrations, at Roland-Garros (14) or elsewhere (8), they were there. Parisian birthday dinners too, at the InterContinental hotel. Often separate tables between men and women. No underlying patriarchal archaism, just that “men tended to quickly get excited about football and women preferred to spare themselves that,” smiles Eric Babolat.
Panic in New York, torture in Caluire
At Wimbledon, the boss one day asked Nadal’s mother what it felt like to see her son in such a competitive context. “She told me she didn’t recognize him. That it was another version on the court, an animal version that almost scared him. » From his experience, he tells a “rather easy boy”asking only one thing: « You lift, you lift, you lift. » His first meeting, in September 2001 in a New York hotel lobby, was one of incomprehension. “I went to introduce myself to Rafa, a young junior, and I saw the panic in his eyes. He didn’t speak any English and must have understood nothing of what I said. »
Jean-Christophe Verborg remembers another first look, “two black marbles staring at you”, a few months earlier in Barcelona. For the brand’s representative, it was then a matter of preparing for the future by setting up a junior team, as experienced players were still reluctant to take on frames signed by Babolat, a young player in this market.
More precisely to raise in international mode the small contract of this kid previously reported by a sector manager. And who, at 14, was already giving a firm response to Carlos Moya and Sergi Bruguera in training. Translator of the main lines of the partnership, Toni Nadal, “very focused on equipment”, will become a privileged relay.
July 2009, important moment. In the wake of an end to the series at Roland (defeat in 8th against Robin Söderling) and the loss of world leadership, the uncle coach picks up his phone: “We have to find something to help Rafael regain his confidence. » Jean-Christophe Verborg has internal wind of a string in the making, orthogonal and textured, designed to improve ball rotation. He speeds up the maneuver and organizes a test. While the technical unit has become accustomed to visiting Mallorca in the off-season with prototypes, this time it is Nadal who is coming to Lyon, just before Bercy.
The employees are over the moon, and the three sparring will soon be in agony on the FCL Tennis court in Caluire. In a meeting room, an engineer presented the innovation with supporting slides. “Rafa” looked at Éric Babolat: “I don’t understand anything about these curves and what he’s saying. Too technical for me. But I’m sure it’s good. » To enhance the stay, the Spaniard slips into an F1 simulator from which it will be difficult to get him out. Less pleasant was the unexpected doping test in the hotel room at 7 a.m. The main thing remains: the new rope seems “solve a lot of things”, according to Toni Nadal.
“Am I going to make it this time?” »
The product is on track and its name adopted in March 2010: RPM Blast. The following month, Jean-Christophe Verborg joined the team in Monte-Carlo. And there, amazement: Rafa tells him that he would like to return to the front rope. “I’m in a cold sweat because everything is launched, the communications plan, etc., remembers the executive of the equipment manufacturer. Toni suggests he play the tournament with it and talk about it at the end. » Result, the left-hander cuts everyone, concluding with a 6-0, 6-1 against Fernando Verdasco. Here we go again.
Over the seasons and adjustments, injuries and returns, the bonds have strengthened. Confidences, refined. Jean-Christophe Verborg, present at the wedding of Rafael and Xisca, was marked by a tête-à-tête with the player in January 2022 within the walls of his academy. A left-footed player increasingly affected by Müller-Weiss syndrome: “I saw him touched, displaying his doubts: “Am I going to succeed this time?” It was authentic. » Five months later, Nadal raises his arms at Roland Garros. A final Major whose leader gives us a priceless souvenir. A racket from the final, white overgrip darkened by effort and a dedication: “For my friend Jean-Christophe. Thanks for everything. »
Confidence, never compromised, did not prevent competition. In 2007, when other equipment manufacturers lined up millions to bait the phenomenon, Babolat played the distant horizon card: ten-year extension. In 2017, new contract, valid as long as the career continues. And by already planning the conditions for the future, as ambassador. In short, if a big page is turned, the next one is not blank. And in the house, the succession is already assured: Carlos Alcaraz will also strike French at least until 2030.
