History of Yonex
The company marked its beginnings as the Yoneyama Company in 1946 and manufactured wooden floats for fishing nets. Business was no longer profitable when plastic floats entered the market, causing owner Minoru Yoneyama to go out of business. Frustrated at being sidelined by advancing technology, he promised never to fall behind technologically and committed to continually innovate in future projects. Based on a great knowledge in wood production, the company started producing wooden badminton racquets in 1957.
Brand development
The breakthrough came just over 10 years later when Yonex started to develop aluminium racquets. In 1969, the brand expands into tennis racquets, the T-7000 aluminium racquet is created.
In 1980, Yonex's iconic racquet with a flattened head and ISOMETRIC ™ technology was introduced. Three years later, great tennis player Martina Navratilova wins the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in singles and doubles, using the best-selling R-22 racquet. In the early 2000s, Lleyton Hewitt becomes the youngest number one by winning Wimbledon and the US Open playing with a Yonex Ultimum RD Ti-50 racquet.
After decades of development, the company manufactures sports equipment for many sports, the most important are badminton, tennis, golf, running and snowboarding. Yonex brand products are known for their excellent quality. Over the years, Yonex has learned that "the toughest situations create the greatest chances” - and this spirit carries through in its mission to enrich the world with sports through high quality products.
Wide range of Yonex equipment
Yonex is one of the most recognisable tennis brands in the world. Yonex racquets are played by players at the top of the ATP and WTA rankings. The most well-known racquet series are: Vcore Pro, Ezone and Vcore. In addition to racquets, the brand also offers clothing, footwear, tennis bags and backpacks, strings, replacement grips and overgrips, vibrastops and balls.
Brand ambassadors
Yonex is creating a long-standing history on the tennis courts and has many outstanding tennis players under its wing. The most famous of these are:
• Lleyton Hewitt
• Stan Wawrinka
• Hubert Hurkacz
• Casper Ruud
• Nick Kyrgios
• Denis Shapovalov
• Frances Tiafoe
• Martina Navrátilová
• Martina Hingis
• Naomi Osaka
• Angelique Kerber
• Caroline Garcia
• Belinda Bencic
