Sports equipment manufacturer Wilson has entered into a partnership with short-form tennis series Tie Break Tens.
Wilson will serve as an official sponsor of the series in 2018, supplying tennis balls, apparel and merchandise at events.
The partnership has been signed ahead of Tie Break Tens’ 2018 season-opener in the Australian city of Melbourne on January 10. The event will feature 12-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic and Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, along with 16-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal (pictured), who confirmed his participation on Sunday in a bid to prove his fitness for the Australian Open.
Tie Break Tens first launched in 2015 when Kyle Edmund beat top-seeded Andy Murray at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Two further tournaments have since been staged in Madrid and Vienna with the likes of Dominic Thiem, Stan Wawrinka, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Grigor Dimitrov, Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep and Johanna Konta having taken part.
Tie Break Tens sees every match consist solely of tie breaks. The winner of the Melbourne event will walk away with $250,000 (€207,000) in prize money. As at previous Tie Break Tens events, at least one contender will be a wild card player.