Reports of Prince Tennis’ demise are greatly exaggerated. The manufacturing giant — a respected name in tennis for its rackets, apparel, and shoes — has recovered from last year’s Chapter 11 reorganization, and is on the move.
Prince Global Sports is based in Bordentown, and new CEO Mike Ballardie considers a new product line launch at the U.S. Open to be day one of the new company. The temporary downfall, Ballardie notes, occurred due to the economy and an over-distribution in the mass market channels that simply led to a cash shortfall.
The Waitt Company subsequently signed a long-term agreement to operate the brand, and that investment has allowed Prince to build a solid foundation for long-term growth and repositioning. Rebuilding Prince inventories has been a key outcome of this investment, as well as restored confidence across the dealer base.
Ballardie has been at Prince for 10 years. Before that, he was a player and coach, ran the Wilson racquet business in Europe, and operated the JanSport brand internationally.
He finds it frustrating how many people still think Prince is not in business.
“I’m trying to get the message across that Prince is in good hands and fully operational. We’re geared to position Prince as the premier performance brand,” he said.
New innovative marketing campaigns began with Prince wrapped double-decker buses at the French Open. That was followed by the first permanent Prince brand store retail location in Wimbledon Village.
In New York, a pop-up brand experience showroom on Lexington and 47th streets opened Thursday and will stay through Sunday, Sept. 1 to showcase the new products and allow fans to watch matches in their viewing lounge.
“Nobody’s ever done anything like that,” said Ballardie. “When we opened in Wimbledon, it was huge news in the tennis industry and we continue to do incredibly well.”
The new fall collection is designed to appeal to players of every level.
The whole line has been rebalanced to offer the 03 technology as well as traditional grommetted frames.
The many long-time players who miss the old Prince Graphite and Response rackets will be happy to hear that those have been updated and are back. A total of 10 models in three different racket families will be available in October.
The tour players who use Prince equipment are on board with using sticks from the new line, likely by the end of the year. They are an important part of the brand, and among those who have had momentous success are David Ferrer, Marion Bartoli, the Bryan brothers, and John Isner. Some will drop by the Prince U.S. Open store during its stay.
“Tennis is in the news and in the mindsets of everyone,” said Ballardie about tomorrow’s start of the U.S. Open. “We want to capitalize on that, and we want to be fully connected and involved in the community.”
• The USTA League Middle States Sectional Championships were held last weekend at three Mercer County sites. Five of the 11 divisions were won by New Jersey District teams, and one local winning team represented the Philadelphia Area Tennis District.
All six districts of the USTA Middle States Sections participated in the annual competition, which consists of teams that finished on top in the regular season and then won the district championships.
Area teams that now advance to the national championships are:
2.5 women from Pennsbury Racquet Club, captained by Janet Marie Padula of Yardley.
3.0 women from Nassau Tennis Club, captained by Linda Haderer of Belle Mead.
3.5 women from Mercer County Tennis Center, captained by Sarah Lane Downey of Manasquan.
4.5 men from Nassau Tennis Club, captained by Michael Ravri of North Brunswick.
Other winning teams were: 3.0 men from Westfield, 3.5 men from New Providence, 4.0 women from Central Penn, 4.0 men from Allegheny Mountain, 4.5 women from Delaware, 5.0 women from the Philadelphia area, and 5.0 men from Central Penn.
The 3.0 women, the Nassau Net Assets, will play the nationals in Tucson in September. Team members reside in Montgomery, Princeton, and Hillsborough, and the team coach is Gino Carosella, who said, “It came down to the very last match on the last day of the tournament with three teams in contention. It was very exciting.”
• Additional intermediate junior players, 14 and under, are still being sought for the Mercer County Jr. Team Tennis Fall League. Play is on Saturdays, Sept. 7-Oct. 19, and the league, a co-ed team concept, has gotten rave reviews from past participants. Contact Lisa Ullman at (609) 731-4374 or lkremerullmann@aol.com to join the fun.
• The Princeton University players, Matija Pecotic and Lindsay Graff, who won the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying Tournament at Mercer County Park this summer, represented Middle States well at the next level. Pecotic, who just graduated amid all kinds of tennis accolades, went all the way to the US Open National Playoff finals last week in New Haven, where he lost to Jeff Dadamo of Tampa, Fla., 6-4, 6-4 in the final. Dadamo then lost in the first round of US Open qualifying in New York this week.
After eliminating the third seed in the second round, Graff was edged out 7-5 in the third set by the second seed in the semifinals and finished in third place. The winner, Mayo Hibi, won a round in the qualies and lost in the second.
The two were partners in the mixed doubles and won two matches in straight sets before suffering a heartbreaking defeat, 6-4, 6-7, (11-9), in the semifinals. They were scheduled to play a third-place playoff match this weekend.
• The NJTL of Trenton will be featured on Fox’s Chasing New Jersey show tomorrow, 10 p.m. On MY9 NY and again Tuesday, 4 a.m., on Fox 29 Philadelphia. The renowned ACE program will be highlighted and key staffers were interviewed for the show.
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