As the start of the French Open approaches, adidas is pleased to announce its extended partnership with the Fédération Française de Tennis (French Tennis Federation) until 2012. The two partners will continue to promote tennis and the prestigious clay court Grand Slam throughout the world.
The partnership between adidas and Roland-Garros celebrates its 35th anniversary this year and fittingly the 1973 French Open winner Ilie Nastase was on hand to enjoy one of the longest relationships in the history of French sport at the adidas Concept Store in Paris.
“We’re delighted to continue this 35-year-old partnership with a brand such as adidas, which shares all the values of sport and tennis”, said Christian Bîmes, president of the FFT. “adidas is a loyal and historic partner of Roland-Garros, which contributes passionately to the unique and dynamic nature of the French Open. adidas’ image and real commitment to tennis, both in France and abroad, are important for the tournament. adidas displays a great deal of sincerity when working with the federation on supporting and developing tennis in France. adidas plays an important role in the great family of French tennis and Roland-Garros”
Under the partnership adidas will equip events organised by the FFT, including the French Open where adidas outfits 300 ball girls/boys and 300 tournament supervisors. adidas has also created a commercial package of co-branded adidas/Roland-Garros products as part of its commitment to supporting Roland-Garros worldwide.
“As the leading brand on the market, it is our responsibility to support the promotion of the French Open worldwide with the development of products. As a brand beloved by the French, adidas has always shown its attachment to tennis and to Roland-Garros in particular. We support the dynamic sport of international tennis with a great deal of commitment, passion and enthusiasm”, commented André Maestrini, Managing Director adidas France. “Our justification for this comes from the great achievements of the athletes under contract with the brand at Grand Slam tournaments ; Stan Smith, Ilie Nastase, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Steffi Graf, Justine Hénin, Novak Djokovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Ana Ivanovic, and many more … a number of them have also been part of the legend of the Porte d’Auteuil ; this is something important to both Roland-Garros and to adidas”, he concluded.
adidas is the market leader for tennis in France (men & women) with a 33.6% market share, and it is also the world leader, thanks to innovative collections for all levels of players. Developed by adidas in 1998, the Feather is the product which has revolutionised the game on clay, allowing the player to slide whilst maintaining grip. Novak Djokovic’s spectacular game on clay is a perfect example of the superior technical aspects of this model which contribute to the beauty of the game. In addition to this being the 35th anniversary of the partnership with Roland-Garros, 2008 is also the year adidas celebrates ten years of the Feather.
***
|