When Babolat looks for a team-up, it doesn’t mess around. The brand likes to tap the expertise of other prominent companies in their respective fields to bring something innovative to their products. That’s why when they got into the tennis shoe space, they partnered with tire giant Michelin to create a rubber outsole that meets the demands of high performance.
By 2024, the French company’s racquets had already been fixtures in padel—one of the fastest growing sports in the world—but it wanted to do something unique. So, it went to the headquarters of Automobili Lamborghini in Italy to take advantage of the legendary car company’s mastery in carbon fiber manufacturing. The result was the BL001 range, made by hand and inspired by a sports car’s chassis.
The resounding praise and success of the line warranted a sequel.
Now comes the next generation BL002. For this update, the Lamborghini engineers focused on the materials in the racquet. The companies convened at the Babolat Padel Studio near Barcelona, which was created to explore and test new methods and technologies for developing padel equipment. It can also produce small quantity, limited-editions such as the BL002—the first model entirely designed at the studio.
