After his father's 1998 death, Eric Babolat bet on Nadal and won

Babolat, founded in Lyon in 1875 by Pierre Babolat, made natural gut strings for rackets and grew into a respected tennis name. The firm stayed family-run, and in 1994 Eric's father Pierre introduced the company's first racket, moving it beyond strings.

Then tragedy struck. In 1998, Pierre was killed when Swissair Flight 111 crashed off Nova Scotia, and Eric, then 28, was suddenly running the company. It was a small firm with little money to sign established touring professionals.

Eric stuck with his father's strategy of giving rackets to young players on the junior circuit. Unknown juniors including Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters were handed free Babolat rackets. As those players went on to win Grand Slams, interest in the brand exploded and sales rose sharply, transforming Babolat into a leading name in rackets, clothing and footwear.

Handing free racquets to juniors like Nadal and Roddick sent sales soaring and made Babolat a top tennis brand in racquets, clothing and footwear.

The company had barely any marketing budget, so it could not afford established stars.

Giving rackets to juniors let Babolat plant its product early in players' careers.

Grand Slam wins by those juniors turned into far more advertising than the firm could have bought.

Staying family-owned gave Eric the patience to wait years for young talent to pay off.

When you cannot afford proven stars, betting on unknown young talent can create the brand that carries the company.

Babolat grew into one of the world's biggest tennis brands, used by a large share of Wimbledon entrants each year, and expanded into footwear, bags and apparel. It remained family-owned, with Eric Babolat leading the company through the boom that his father's and his own bet on young players created.