The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tournament held in the Asia-Pacific region, having an aim of enhancing its image and presence in Asia. This sponsorship agreement has been achieved in recognition of the global sales records of our DUNLOP tennis balls, the instances of actual use of the balls on ATP and WTA tour, the high quality and stability highly evaluated by top-ranked players, the wide sales network in Asia, and the Sumitomo Rubber Group's high technological capability in tires, industrial products, and sporting goods.

This agreement allows us to become the official supplier of tennis balls for the Australian Open starting in 2019, and official supplier for the Emirates Australian Open Series (tournaments considered as preliminary competitions before the AO), to set up a booth during the AO tournament, and to manufacture and sell official tennis ball-related goods. We are the first Japanese company to be an official ball supplier for a Grand Slam tournament. The official balls are scheduled to be released as "DUNLOP Australian Open" tennis balls in the first half of 2019 with an open price tag.

Sumitomo Rubber Industries intends to contribute to promoting the Australian Open and enhancing its brand image together with Tennis Australia.


Comment by Australia Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley:

We are delighted to partner with Dunlop on the new Australian Open ball.
Our aim is to provide the players with the best possible playing environment and we believe they
will be very happy with the quality, standard and consistency of play of the new AO Dunlop ball in
a wide variety of conditions.
We've worked closely with Dunlop for some time and are impressed with their quality control at
every stage, from design right through to the manufacturing process. Many of our current and
former players have also put the new ball through its paces, both in Australia and around the
world, and this process will be ongoing to ensure there's consistency of play in a variety of
conditions.
We welcome Dunlop to the Australian tennis We welcome Dunlop to the Australian Open family
and look forward to a fantastic partnership which extends across all levels of the sport.