Here is your Forbes Daily Briefing for Monday, September 2nd.

Today on Forbes,

how Yonix became a 55-year-old overnight success in tennis. Roughly a decade after Yonix released its first ever tennis racket in 1969,

the Japanese Sports Equipment Company pursued one of the most impactful sports ambassadors in history,

Billy Jean King.

It wasn't an easy courtship.

Founder Minoro Yoriyama

repeatedly sent rackets to the 12-time Grand Slam singles champion,

and each time they were rejected.

But countless hours of tinkering in the factory

to appease one of tennis's all-time grates

led to the development of Yonix's famed square-headed racket,

which offered a larger sweet spot without sacrificing control,

and King, along with her doubles partner,

Martina Navratilova, began competing with the company's products in 1980.

Alyssa Yoniyama,

Yonix's CEO since 2022 and the granddaughter of the company's founder,

says, quote, it's the athlete partnership that challenged him to make better stuff.

I think that's the value he saw initially, and that really pushed him and put us on the map in tennis.

Yonix's love affair with tennis's top talent

didn't end with King and Navratilova.

The brand's history includes some of the most prominent names the sport has ever seen,

...