According to data from the Tennis Industry Association and Sports Marketing Surveys, tennis racquet sales for all brands in key European markets increased 14.9 percent compared to the first six months of 2022.
The Austrian company Head gained market share in most of those markets – Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the Netherlands – making it the leading tennis racquet brand in Europe. For the same period, the Kennelbach-based company reported that it has also continued to increase its share in the tennis ball market in Europe, with the overall market growing by 4.2 percent (units sold) compared to the first half of 2022. The most outstanding results were achieved in Head’s home market of Austria, where its market share for tennis balls was over 60 percent and for tennis racquets over 50 percent.
The strong sales performance in Europe was fueled in no small part by the achievements of Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic in the first half of 2023. He won the first two majors of the season at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros, becoming the first man in history to win 23 Grand Slam titles in singles. Djokovic was not alone: The outstanding performances of many other Head ambassadors – including ATP Top 10 players Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev and Taylor Fritz, as well as WTA star Coco Gauff – also contributed to this success.
“Novak Djokovic winning his 23rd Grand Slam title was a big part in Head’s strong performance, but this was a team effort from all our ambassadors, with 50 percent of the ATP Top 10 playing with Head,” commented Ottmar Barbian, Executive Vice President of Racquetsports at Head. “Another reason behind Head’s growth was our long-term collaboration with our wide network of retailers and local partners.”
