ABSTRACT
Rafael Nadal, looking relaxed in sweatpants and a baseball cap, strode up to the net on a tennis court at the Babolat headquarters in Lyon, France. As Nadal played the first few strokes, Eric Babolat, CEO of the French tennis equipment company, watched with nervous anticipation. In April 2012, Babolat had invited Nadal to test the revolutionary new “Connect” racquet, which digitally captures a player’s forehands, backhands, smashes, and serves-and sends that data directly to a smartphone or tablet. Richly colored charts told Nadal how much topspin he put on each stroke and whether he hit the ball with the racquet’s sweet spot.
