Babolat - Inspiring Careers

Babolat, a brand, a spirit, a history… and so much more.

There comes a time in life when you have choices to make. I would like to share with you how Babolat helped influence my choices and how from a young, lost high school student, I became an engineer and got the chance to work in the tennis industry.

I am passionate about tennis, and if there is one thing I know about passion, it is that it has an incredible power when it comes to motivating you.

It all started six years ago in 2013. I was walking around Roland Garros, enjoying the sun and the exciting matches that day until I reached a place called the RG Lab. It caught my attention, and I decided to go inside to know more. It was the temple of tennis and innovation!

One booth in particular stood out to me. It was Babolat’s. In the Babolab, they were presenting the new connected racquet and how it works to measure and gather all the information about your game. You were able to see the different data from their players, and everything was set in such an informative way the overall experience was really pleasant.

The brand really managed to create an interesting environment for tennis lovers. Babolat was giving real answers for relevant questions such as How to string a racquet? Which string to choose? Which tension to apply? etc.

What I really liked is how the brand was sharing its expertise with players while also bringing innovation to tennis. They are always trying to improve things. That is how you can be confident that a sports brand is legitimate.

At that time, I had to make a choice for my future career, and being there, surrounded by tennis equipment and seeing the evolution of my sport, I began thinking … How about being part of this innovation? Why not making this dream my job?

Who wouldn’t want to work for his passion? It is a dream for everyone, I believe. Confucius once said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

I decided to walk toward the guys running the Babolat booth to ask them what it takes to be part of the team and work in racquet development. I didn’t know how much that conversation would impact my life. That’s how I met Sylvain Triquigneaux, head of the Performance Lab Department at Babolat. He explained that to do the job I wanted I should study mechanical engineering. No need to say it twice. I knew what I had to do, and I was determined.

That discussion was followed by five years of studies in a French engineering school and one year doing an MSc in Strategic Marketing. I never stopped thinking about working in tennis until one day, Tennis Warehouse Europe gave me the opportunity to work with them and join the tennis industry.

Now when I think about that discussion six years ago, I realize how much it had an impact on my career decisions and on my life. There is not just one way to work in tennis and live your passion. You could be engineering racquets, working in marketing preparing the future launches or traveling the world with the players to answer their needs.

While filming Brandography, we went to the Babolat headquarters, and it was funny to meet Sylvain again after all this time. I was proud to tell him that I did it, that I’m now working in the tennis industry. I’m really grateful for the advice he gave me, and like he did with me, I would like to share a piece of advice with you:

If there is something I’ve learned over the years, it is that life is made of unexpected paths. You may think that things should happen in a logical way, and sometimes they do, but most of the time you can never predict what the future holds.

There is no right or wrong way. If you really want something and you keep it in mind as a goal in your life, it will eventually become your reality.

My name is Safwane Arfaoui, and I’m the marketing coordinator for France for Tennis Warehouse Europe.