News

Bordentown, NJ — In addition to its 40th Anniversary, Prince, global leader in performance tennis equipment, is proud to celebrate another milestone in 2010 — the Company’s return as the on-site partner of Apollo Leisure at The Wimbledon Championships.

The most recognizable, legendary tennis tournament on the planet, Wimbledon has invited Apollo Leisure in partnership with Prince to organize the on-site stringing facility. Prince machines and product will help the stringing team handle approximately 2,500 stringing and customization jobs for the worlds’ most discerning ATP and WTA touring pros throughout the fortnight.

“We are extremely proud to return and work with Apollo Leisure at such a prestigious establishment as The All England Club and provide equipment for The Championships. It is an honor and responsibility we do not take lightly,” said David Malinowski, Global Business Director for Strings, Grips and Machines at Prince Sports, Inc. “Although we are the only major U.S owned and headquartered tennis brand, our reach is global, with presence in more than 100 countries around the world. We are a global leader in all product categories — obviously racquets, footwear and apparel — but string and stringing machines as well.”

As part of the partnership with Apollo Leisure, Prince will supply ten new Prince 6000 stringing machines and one Prince PTC (Precision Tuning Center) machine designed to measure down to the exact gram, racquet weight and balance. A hand-selected team of the world’s finest string technicians will operate these machines around the clock in order to perfect each and every racquet that goes out the door and into the players’ racquet bag for match play.

“At Wimbledon, we demand the very best and strive for perfection in all that we do — much like the field of athletes who compete here for the coveted Wimbledon title. Without question we feel that Prince, more than any other brand, shares this vision, and provides the finest knowledge base and product performance when it comes to tennis equipment — stringing machines included,” said Jeremy Holt, Apollo Leisure. “They pay meticulous attention to the minutiae; the details and engineering that makes equipment perform at the highest level. It makes perfect sense for Prince to be involved at Wimbledon as they share many common traits including excellence, performance and heritage.”

“Prince has always been widely recognized throughout the industry, around the world, as delivering exceptional stringing equipment,” said Dave Bone, President of United States Racquet Stringers Association and editor for Racquet Sports Industry — a leading trade publication in the United States. “The company already has very strong tour player support for its products and more-than-solid industry and grassroots partnerships — to be selected as the stringing machine to be used at Wimbledon is certainly another very nice feather in their cap.”

“This is a very important partnership for Prince and reinforces with the tennis playing community the global acknowledgment of Prince’s top level equipment,” said Mark Maslowski, President of the European Racquet Stringers Association. “We expect this will result in many more retail outlets and commercial stringers choosing to operate off of the Prince machines.”

Supplying the stringing equipment for Wimbledon extends an already strong partnership between the two leading entities. Prince is also the official licensed partner of the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) for all Wimbledon® by Prince branded equipment sold at the event and globally including the Wimbledon® by Prince tennis racquets, racquet bags, and accessories. Aside from being able to purchase these items on location, Wimbledon branded equipment can be found online and at major tennis retail locations around the world.

For more information about the entire line of Prince tennis products, including overview, videos and manuals for all Prince machines or to locate an authorized Prince tennis dealer, log onto princetennis.com.

Wimbledon begins June 21, 2010.

About Prince Sports, Inc.

Prince Sports, Inc, based in New Jersey, is a company of racquet sports enthusiasts whose goal is to create cutting edge, functional and technically advanced products that deliver performance benefits for avid players. The Company’s portfolio of brands includes Prince (tennis, squash and badminton), Ektelon (racquetball) and Viking (platform/paddle tennis). The Company has a history of innovation including inventing the first “oversize” and “longbody” racquets, the first “Natural Foot Shape” tennis shoe, the first “synthetic gut” string and the first electronic ball machine. Today, Prince markets leading technologies in racquets (EXO3), string (Premier LT), footwear (Lightspeed) and apparel (Aerotech). It has operations on three continents with distribution in over 100 countries. For more information on players, products or programs please visit princesports.com.