Ram no longer w/ Babolat

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Hall of Fame
For being #1 in the world for doubles, I'm a bit surprised to see that Ram doesn't have a deal w/ Babolat. I thought he had it last year, but maybe I missed that. Solinco stencil and bag on the last gen Aero currently.
 
Can’t argue with his results, but Babolat is probably considering his age as a factor with contract renewal. He doesn’t have the Alcaraz-zle dazzle marketability
 
Maybe he’ll be going the way of the Byans w/ full Solinco sponsorship…with a Kokkinakis-style blacked out Pure Aero.

I know it was an exhibition, but they looked good yesterday vs Philippoussis/Baghdatis w/ their Blackout XTDs.
 
A_Instead said:
Just goes to show that investment in doubles players is not a priority...
He is one of the best in recent memory since the BB's and should have mass market appeal in several markets..
Yet.....
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100% agree! Why pass on a top doubles player? Or maybe their offer was not enough?
 
Agreed about lack of popularity of doubles. But you see even at the challenger level, guys with sponsorship. Granted those guys probably only get free gear at best and no money. Maybe even only discounted gear.

For those saying it wasn't lucrative enough for ram, I think there's probably truth in that too. Probs wanted more than just free stuff and probably getting money from solinco. Don't remember their stencil on his gear in the past.
 
A_Instead said:
A small contract offer is better than no contract offer..
At 38, 28, or 18...you get what you are worth..
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correct….even a small endorsement should be there for him:
He is current #1 in doubles with 3 recent major championships (including last 2 US opens)…..but maybe he declined their endorsement if it was too small (something like just racquets), so he decided to blackout the Babolat paint job in protest…..just a guess but a real possibility
 
@sureshs , are you still trying to sign Ramreshs to play with the Dunlop Srshs Edition CX200 and Brand X $18 vibration dampener? That would get you further along the road to the pros as a player agent!
 
ollinger said:
Not a lot of value in signing a 38 year old, not to mention how little doubles shows up on TV
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I'd have thought he'd at least merit some kind of nominal short-term deal, at least for the current season

Yeah doubles doesn't have a high profile, but there's a good chance he will end up in a major final or two this year and that's good for a decent amount of brand exposure

Maybe he didn't like Babolat's offer and is looking around
 
Seth said:
I think I’m in the minority, but I prefer watching doubles over singles these days, what with so much of singles becoming baseline bashing with little nuance.

Still not buying something just because Sampras uses it, though.
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Yes!
 
Chrysler has been missing a huge sponsorship opportunity.

Just imagine a Chrysler Special Edition "Rajeev" Ram.

"The special edition Rajeev Ram will serve all your towing needs with effortless power just like ATP Grand Slam Champion Rajeev Ram."

MY22-RAM-1500-DT.jpg


* edited bc I thought Dodge still made the Ram, Jesus Chrysler took over about 10 years ago.
 
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onehandbh said:
Dodge has been missing a huge sponsorship opportunity.

Just imagine a Dodge Special Edition "Rajeev" Ram.

"The special edition Rajeev Ram will serve all your towing needs with effortless power just like ATP Grand Slam Champion Rajeev Ram."

MY22-RAM-1500-DT.jpg
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Dodge does not make ram trucks anymore
 
Perhaps, but even the men's slam doubles finals seem to get buried in low-audience time slots before or after the women's final, for example
Cashman said:
Yeah doubles doesn't have a high profile, but there's a good chance he will end up in a major final or two this year and that's good for a decent amount of brand exposure
Click to expand...
 
!<-_->! said:
For being #1 in the world for doubles, I'm a bit surprised to see that Ram doesn't have a deal w/ Babolat. I thought he had it last year, but maybe I missed that. Solinco stencil and bag on the last gen Aero currently.
Click to expand...

shame really. Is Salisbury fully sponsored by tec?
 
Seth said:
Not enough of us shelling out $280-320 for their sticks.
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For some reason it seems like Babolat isn’t the cool kid anymore, even though their racquets are good. I think the Pure Strikes are great.

Yonex is acting like the whole made in Japan thing makes a big difference - I think it’s bs (they use the same carbon fiber, and it is not just that) - I think it’s Wawa‘s winning the Aussie in 2014 making people think ok maybe this isn’t just a chick brand anymore. Yonex has become the annoying Williamsburg hipster.

Wilson has huge shoes to fill with Federer and SW retired. Jabeur is the biggest name on the Pro Staff, and Tsitsipas is the biggest name on the Blade, but imho they need to figure out the Burn and Ultra.

I think Head is in good shape with basically all their lines.

TF has Swiatek and Medvedev but not so deep with the others.
 
kkm said:
For some reason it seems like Babolat isn’t the cool kid anymore, even though their racquets are good. I think the Pure Strikes are great.

Yonex is acting like the whole made in Japan thing makes a big difference - I think it’s bs (they use the same carbon fiber, and it is not just that) - I think it’s Wawa‘s winning the Aussie in 2014 making people think ok maybe this isn’t just a chick brand anymore. Yonex has become the annoying Williamsburg hipster.

Wilson has huge shoes to fill with Federer and SW retired. Jabeur is the biggest name on the Pro Staff, and Tsitsipas is the biggest name on the Blade, but imho they need to figure out the Burn and Ultra.

I think Head is in good shape with basically all their lines.

TF has Swiatek and Medvedev but not so deep with the others.
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The Burn hasn’t been in the main line for Wilson for years, it’s more of a price point frame right now and no players are endorsing it. The Ultra V4 paint job has a ton of players on it. I just got back from Montreal and it was pretty much in every single doubles match.
 
fed1 said:
The Burn hasn’t been in the main line for Wilson for years, it’s more of a price point frame right now and no players are endorsing it. The Ultra V4 paint job has a ton of players on it. I just got back from Montreal and it was pretty much in every single doubles match.
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With Burn off their main line, we gotta consider that Clash has no pro endorsers and Shift is basically guaranteed not to have any high-rank pros endorsing it. That leaves the Blade Pro Staff and Ultra as their main lines right? I forgot that they had Sakkari endorsing the Ultra, and Dimitrov on the Pro Staff.:X3:
 
Ram is the nicest guy you would ever want to meet.

A local teaching pro was friends with him in college and early on the tour.

He talked Ram into stopping in little old Huntington, WV during a gap between tournaments. This was several years ago.

He put on a little mini clinic with the local guy for only a couple hundred bucks for the whole morning.

He didn't just hit a few balls and sit there. He actively participated in all the drills, gave individual pointers, etc.

Right before he left the courts, he asked me what my biggest issue was, tennis-wise. I told him "return of serve".

He said "Let's see". Had the local guy hit some serves at me and observed my returns.

He told and showed me how to start a little further back, take a step forward when the toss goes up and land into a split step, right about the contact point.

He then watch me do that about 10 times or so until I started getting it.

Only then did he get ready and leave. I have been his #1 fan ever since for obvious reasons........
 
I watched Ram/Salisbury practice at IW last year. It was eerie how few people were watching. I felt like I was intruding on their practice. It was super quiet. Their young coach (forget his name) was drilling shots at them from the baseline. I think Louis Cayer was there, too. They hit a couple volleys and an overhead, and then would switch why the other hit his. Very methodical and structured practice. When they packed up, nobody asked them for autographs. Ram almost looked like he was waiting for someone to ask him to sign or take a pic, haha.
 
stapletonj said:
Ram is the nicest guy you would ever want to meet.

A local teaching pro was friends with him in college and early on the tour.

He talked Ram into stopping in little old Huntington, WV during a gap between tournaments. This was several years ago.

He put on a little mini clinic with the local guy for only a couple hundred bucks for the whole morning.

He didn't just hit a few balls and sit there. He actively participated in all the drills, gave individual pointers, etc.

Right before he left the courts, he asked me what my biggest issue was, tennis-wise. I told him "return of serve".

He said "Let's see". Had the local guy hit some serves at me and observed my returns.

He told and showed me how to start a little further back, take a step forward when the toss goes up and land into a split step, right about the contact point.

He then watch me do that about 10 times or so until I started getting it.

Only then did he get ready and leave. I have been his #1 fan ever since for obvious reasons........
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Great guy, he’s still very active here in his hometown in Indianapolis!
 
ey039524 said:
I watched Ram/Salisbury practice at IW last year. It was eerie how few people were watching. I felt like I was intruding on their practice. It was super quiet. Their young coach (forget his name) was drilling shots at them from the baseline. I think Louis Cayer was there, too. They hit a couple volleys and an overhead, and then would switch why the other hit his. Very methodical and structured practice. When they packed up, nobody asked them for autographs. Ram almost looked like he was waiting for someone to ask him to sign or take a pic, haha.
Click to expand...

Maybe he was waiting for you to ask for an autograph :laughing:

Had a similar experience, watched Rochus vs Wawrinka play an outer court night match about 100 years ago. I was the only one there besides the two player's coaches and it was weird. Rochus coach kept looking at me in a paranoid way like I was gathering intel on his guy.
 
McLovin said:
Just got a good look at it on TV during his warmup. PA w/ a blacked out paint job.

EDIT: they just showed some slo-Mo video during the changeover, and you could see the Babolat logo on the butt cap.
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someone should tell him it‘s easy to take the buttcap logo off
 
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