Cameron Norrie in full head-to-toe Babolat, including footwear with a Michelin-created outsole, during the 2025 U.S. Open. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
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For over 20 years, French brands Babolat and Michelin have collaborated on footwear, giving a pair of brands launched in the 1800s—one started in musical instrument string before creating the first tennis racket string and the other a vehicle tire maker—a unique perspective on tennis shoes.
The focus has resulted in a two-decade-plus partnership that gives Babolat tennis shoes a heightened level of traction understanding. “Michelin applies its expertise beyond tires,” Shivam Saxena, managing director for Michelin Lifestyle Limited, tells me. “Our know-how in grip and resistance allows multiple applications, such as footwear.”
Saxena says the company brings an expertise on rubber, formulas and shape to the Babolat teams to create soles for all tennis court surfaces. Each playing surface has its own requirements and different needs, balancing “adhesion and responsiveness,” Saxena says.
Cam Norrie showing off the Michelin outsole on his Babolat Jet Mach 3 tennis shoes.
Babolat
The Michelin research and development teams in the company’s research enter in France craft formulas meant to fit the characteristics of each court. By adapting the rubber formula and outsole structure, Saxena says they can pair with Babolat for any surface. “On hard court shoes, we are maximizing the contact surface to enhance the grip, whereas clay court shoe outsoles are designed to maximize evacuation of clay,” Saxena says. “In total, we are ‘playing’ with several technical formulas to develop more than 10 outsole structures to cover all sports.”
Head-to-toe Babolat athlete Cam Norrie has taken notice. While Norrie has played with a Babolat racket since he as 12 years old, he switched to the brand’s apparel and footwear at the start of 2025, quickly realizing how the more lightweight nature of his Jet Mach 3 shoes from Babolat give him more energy throughout a long match.
Norrie is also a fan of the support he’s getting from Babolat, both underfoot and from staff. “My foot feels stable,” he tells me. “I really like the shoes and had no problems when I first tried them on. They felt good from the beginning.”
He’s staying connected with Babolat, saying the brand is constantly wanting to hear his feedback. On everything, but especially the shoes. Norrie was recently in Monaco testing out the unreleased Jet Mach 4. “Do I think they are better, worse, how about this? They are really trying to learn from me,” he says, “using me as an example.”
Cam Norrie has been using Babolat rackets since age 12, but went fully head-to-toe with the brand to start 2025.
Babolat
The move into tennis equipment is relatively recent for such a storied brand. Musical instrument string maker Pierre Babolat made the world’s first tennis strings in 1875. Pierre’s great-grandson, Eric Babolat, leading the brand since 1998, says the world’s oldest tennis brand is still growing, 150 years later.
Around World War II the brand evolved into adding nylon and synthetics to its string lineup, a big change. Then came electronic stringing machines. The evolution increased under Eric Babolat with the staggered introduction of racket frames across multiple markets starting in 1994, the addition of balls in 2000 and shoes in 2002, helped by the partnership with Michelin on technology and American tennis star Andy Roddick giving the brand added visibility.
For Norrie, he appreciates the brand’s dedication and the fact he gets to be a part of it. “It is good fun,” he says. “For me, they have been such an important brand for tennis and the sport, they know tennis better than me. It is nice to work with a tennis-specific brand.”
MORE: Babolat, Oldest Tennis Manufacturer In The World, Enjoying Rise In Sport
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/timnewcomb/2025/09/03/babolat-tennis-footwear-features-unique-michelin-collaboration/
