The 2025 Australian Open is here, and the 15-day opening tennis extravaganza is plundering the world's attention on the court in Melbourne.

In January, Australia coincides with the summer, and the abundant sunshine brings pleasant temperatures, providing a natural "hotbed" for the smooth development of the Australian Open. From a commercial point of view, January is a "recuperation period" for the world's most popular sports, which has also won more media attention and exposure for the Australian Open.

In recent years, more and more Chinese faces have emerged in tennis, a sport that originated in Europe and emerged, and the highly discussed Chinese athlete Sun Lulu has also embarked on the honorary journey of this tournament, making her Australian Open debut in the women's singles and doubles today and tomorrow.

The 23-year-old Sun Lulu can be described as hot in the past 2024. She was named WTA Rookie of the Year for her year-round performances, and Sun has now climbed from 214th in the WTA rankings at the start of 2024 to a career-high 40th.

Sun Lulu

So far in her tennis career, the highlight of Sun Lulu has been when she eliminated Zheng Qinwen in the first round of Wimbledon women's singles, winning her first Grand Slam main draw victory in her career, and leaving an indelible impression on the world, especially Chinese fans. The rising tennis star has a Chinese mother and a Croatian father, grew up in Switzerland and now represents New Zealand on the international stage.

As a WTA Rookie of the Year and rapidly climbing the rankings, Sun Lulu has shown strong competitiveness and great potential in the arena. Recently, FILA officially announced that Sun Lulu is a player signed by the brand, and the two sides have opened a new chapter of cooperation to jointly explore future development opportunities. As a representative of the new generation of tennis power, the addition of Sun Lulu symbolizes FILA's support and cultivation of emerging powers, and also reflects the brand's determination to continuously inject fresh blood and maintain vitality and competitiveness. Through the cooperation with Sun Lulu, FILA will further expand its lineup of top athletes in the field of tennis, continue the tradition of sponsoring champions, and strengthen the brand's influence and professional image in tennis.

From the past to the present, FILA is inextricably linked to the sport of tennis

Tennis is a sport that is integrated into the blood of the FILA brand, and the relationship between FILA and tennis is inseparable from the legendary Swedish star Bjorn Borg. A veritable Super Grand Slam player, having won five consecutive Wimbledon titles (1976-1980) and six French Opens, he loved wooden rackets and pioneered a revolutionary topspin volley in tennis, and a photograph of him wearing a red FILA Settanta jacket holding up and kissing the Wimbledon Gold Cup was once the face of Wimbledon.

Björn Borg

The tennis legend wears a hair tie and a striped tennis jersey with an elegant figure that gives tennis a bright color. This epoch-making FILA vertical striped jersey was designed by Rolando, the originator of FILA design, who broke the stereotype and boldly innovated, adding striped elements to the all-white tennis uniform, breaking the All White uniform rules formulated by Wimbledon in 1890, and caused a sensation in the entire tennis world, which has since established FILA's important position in the golden age of tennis.

Rooted in the brand's DNA, FILA creates a new consumer experience

In the past, people paid attention to tennis, and they would be filled with a sense of intercontinental nationality, and they would sigh at the superb sports skills and the extraordinary endowment of the athletes on the tennis court. Nowadays, people are more willing to think of tennis as a hobby and lifestyle, which has given rise to a lot of experience on and off the court.

This also provides more ideas for tennis brands. Recently, FILA launched the FILA Biella tennis concept store in Shanghai, focusing on creating a new consumer experience and providing an ideal place for tennis enthusiasts to relax and socialize.

FILA Biella Tennis Concept Store is located on the West Bund of Xuhui, known as the "spiritual utopia" of Shanghainese, and tennis elements can be seen everywhere inside and outside the store.

There is a DIY area in the store where customers can customize their own personalized tennis equipment and gain a sense of accomplishment in creating their own on-court equipment. In the future, the area will also invite professional tennis consultants and stringers to provide members with professional racket stringing services.

The greatest value of the FILA Biella tennis concept store is its "sociability". In the future, FILA will use its stores as a base to form a tennis community and regularly hold tennis-themed parties, salons, workshops and other activities, so that the boundaries of retail space will be further expanded, and tennis will also jump out of the court and enter more people's lives.

For brands, products are the foundation, but service and experience can play the greatest "marginal effect" and best demonstrate the brand's channel power.

It has to be said that the century-old fashion sports brand FILA has once again been at the forefront, and the brand spirit of "Make Performance Beautiful" is not limited to the sports field, but with the help of top retail terminals, it is also vividly interpreted off the court, so that tennis can be closer to the lives of more people.

Photo: FILA, Li Jianyi