THE K-BLOG

Open communication:

At Keller Sports we believe that open communication as the basis for trustful relations. Therefore we would like to inform our customers and business partners that Christian Mangstl, co-founder and former CEO of the Group Scout24, invested in Keller Sports GmbH.

As he truly was our preferred candidate we are very happy about this news.

Christian Mangstl, is one of the founders of the Scout24 Group (e.g. autoscout24, friendsscout24, etc.) and responsible for turning the Scout24 Group into the big and successful company that it is today.

First the work, then the climb

Those of you that know us a bit better, may wonder how it can be that after refusing it for a long time we have now decided to accept external financing. Well, first of all, it is not quite correct to say that we always had something “against” investors.  In fact we think that first comes a clear strategy based on business-columns (for us those are the Logistic, IT, Marketing and HR areas among others) before scaling the business to the maximum extent. We are still convinced of this today.

This is how we have managed the strong growth over 7 years just with our Cash-Flow (incl. 2012 we have had an average growth rate of over 130% per year)

Right since the beginning we were convinced that in order to achieve sustainable and profitable growth, we need to offer customers true and real added value. That is why we offer to all of our customers additional customized services such as the stringing of racquets, flock sparing of clothes and the testing of products. We also offer product videos so that the customer can “experience the product” through our 1 minute-long advice-videos and we write our own product descriptions for the products so that also the “not so experienced customer” can use it as a shopping-guideline (e.g. http://www.keller-sports.com/tennis/tennisshoes/Adidas-Adipower-Barricade-Clay-white-black-SS12.html). Our customers can also chat live with our product experts if they still have further questions (additionally to communication via telephone and e-mail).

“Turnover is King”, but what counts in the end is “profitable turnover”

First of all, yes we agree that in retail business it is necessary not only to have a clear strategy in the short and long-term but also to become a leader in the market. Over the last seven and a half year, we multiple times had the opportunity of receiving financing from external investors and that would have allowed us to expand earlier into more markets and sports. Surely it would have translated into a significant sales growth; nevertheless it would have been only a revenue growth at the cost of a negative profitability. And, at the end, profitability is exactly what is crucial for everybody (for investors too).

We doubt that it is so easy (like usually directly VC-financed start-ups, that could not exist without funding) in our market to simply “push the handle over to profitability” after a very fast growth with a wide range of products (that appear in all price searching machines, are offered on Google etc. and that will be also sold if the price is good enough) and then secure long term profitability.

What’s next for Keller Sports?

Christian Mangstl’s investment came at the ideal moment as the right “next step” towards our vision of becoming an international online-sports-shop e-commerce leader. No doubt that we received “better” offers from other investors, but for us an experienced online-businessman like the co-founder of the Scout24-Group was the perfect decision to get another step closer to our vision.

The growth rate of over 200% currently and the already concretely defined next steps of the implementation of our strategy give us a great feeling that we are following the right path and that we will be able to offer a unique shopping experience to our customers.

For further exciting and sporty years, yours Moritz and Jakob Keller

The stage is set for a very intriguing Indian Wells men’s event. Top players usually fare very well at this event as they come in well-rested. In fact, every year since 2002 a top-three seed has won the event—except for last year when Ivan Ljubičić was the surprise victor.



Seeded third, Novak Djokovic is the man to beat, as he is undefeated this year. Second seed and three-time champion, Roger Federer will seek revenge for his two losses to Djokovic this year, as both have been drawn in the bottom half. Another big name in this half is last year’s finalist Andy Roddick, who won Memphis in his last-played event.


Top seed and two-time champion, Rafael Nadal is playing his first ATP event since
his injury at the Australian Open. He will be challenged in the top half by fourth-seed
Robin Söderling , who has an 18-1 record this year with three titles. Fifth-seed Andy Murray will look to rebound from his confidence-destroying loss at the Australian
Open in January, his third loss in a Grand Slam final.


The BNP Paribas Open, the first of nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events,
is held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The Men’s qualifying draw ends today,
March 9th, and the Men’s main draw starts tomorrow, March 10th, and lasts until March 20th. For in-depth analysis of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 event and many statistical tennis articles, please visit thebigtip.com.au/tennis.

True to our new motto: “(Even) More Tennis!”, the new
Yonex V-Core rackets are already at keller-tennis.com!

Even though the official release of the new Yonex series is in March, keller-tennis.com already has three of the new Yonex V Core rackets online and available!

The “D” is for “drive” in the V Core 95D and V Core 98D, and it’s thus designed for players who hit with straight shots. The advantage is that, with this new frame design, the optimal meeting point at the top of the frame is enlarged. This allows Yonex to promise more power in your return hit.

The V Core 100S was designed for players who employ a lot of spin in their game, and it is the latest “weapon of choice” of Caroline Wozniacki. “VCore lets you play aggressively because it has so much power, but you still have control to put the ball in the right spot to hit clean winners. The spin is amazing. The ball just kicks off any surface which allows anyone to play with great confidence”—so says the top
player in women’s tennis about your new secret weapon!

The new Head rackets and racket bags are now available! To give you an idea of what you can expect, here’s a little recap on the general technology behind Head’s rackets, as well as what makes the Extreme and Speed series so special.

Head puts the best technologies behind every tennis racket. Head rackets offer a wide range of technologies: Innegra, HydroSorb, Flexpoint, Liquidmetal and Protect System. Here are some highlights:

• Innegra is the lightest fiber in the world and it combines with Heads of advanced carbon composite technology to provide you with an extremely resilient structure.

• d30 is the new material incorporated into the coating of the racket, positioned in the fork of the racket shaft. d30 adapts itself to fit your style of play and amplifies it. What does that mean to you? Your hits are more explosive and slower hits can be better controlled.

• In the terms of the grommet system, a lot has changed. Since 2010, Head’s offered grommets with a friction-reducing teflon polymer. The result is that little energy is lost on impact, thereby making even more power possible. This also creates a larger sweet spot.

• Available string patterns of 16×19 and 18×20.

• Top tennis players like Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Robin Söderling, Svetlana Kusznetsova and Maria Sharapova play with the Speed, Youtek Prestige Youtek and Extreme models.

Speed Series:
The Youtek Speed is tailored to the needs of Novak Djokovic. This racket is very stiff and perfect for players who are continuously playing with quick hits. The Speed series is equipped with brand new Head’s YouTek technology with Innegra, which provides unparalleled control and precision for every shot.

Extreme Series:
The YouTek Extreme is designed specifically for the needs of players such as Ivan Ljubicic, and for competition-oriented players with a long swing style. The Extreme series is also infused with Head’s YouTek technology and Innegra material. This makes the racket even more powerful than ever before, while simulatenously guaranteeing maximum spin.

With a spectacular finale, the first Grand Slam of the year actually finished up on keller-tennis.com’s home court last Tuesday. Thanks to enthusiastic participation from our employees and the support of Dunlop, who made the new club Biomimetic available to us (and therefore made it impossible for anyone to claim that their defeat was due to equipment), our home-grown tournament raged for 3 weeks.

The final match? Product Management vs. the Finance Department. In four sets, Flo Berg (Product management) prevailed with 10:5 10:6 10:4 6:10 to steal the title.

We are already looking forward to the next Grand Slam, and we will of course let you know whether this Product Manager was able to defend his title! Check out a portion of the game below. Have fun!

In the picture, Ivan Lendl and Mats Wilander play in an exhibition game under the “Berenberg Bank Classics,” for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Scattered throughout the crowd was everyone from the sports agency of the three-time Davis Cup winner, Carl-Uwe Steeb, and as well as Berenberg Bank, the title sponsor of the game, which was played on the center court of the Porsche Arena.


The two men were the dominant and influential figures in the 80s. Mats Wilander has seven Grand Slam titles to call his own, as well as three Davis Cup victories. Ivan Lendl could claim even eight Grand Slam titles for himself, not to mention one Davis Cup.

With the success of this exhibition game, the organizers have created yet another great highlight leading up to the world-class tennis tournament. The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix takes place from 16 to 24 April 2011 in the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart.

Tennis isn’t all about technique; it’s also about mental toughness. Sure, tennis technique has its place in a player’s development, but it’s not the key to winning. Every player has lost at least a few matches in his or her career to players with poor technique, but obviously superior tennis tactics. These opponents tactically outplayed them.



A site that we’ve recently come across and think is pretty cool, www.tennismindgame.com, helps you work on your tennis tactics to get “in the zone” and stay there.



TennisMindGame.com offers players of all levels tips and techniques on how to improve their mental game. We think the Inner Game section offers solid common-sense insights and suggestions that can be readily applied to your game. There tennis beginners can also find a set of instructional videos that teaches them the basics of tennis technique with 49 step-by-step videos.

Going forward, you will now find tennis apparel from Under Armour in our selection!
For those who don’t already know the brand, we’d like to give you a brief introduction…

Under Armour is an American sporting goods manufacturer headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. Originally known as a brand that specialized purely in martial arts clothing and thermal underwear, it’s now focused on sports like baseball and basketball, as well as shoulder pads for ice hockey, lacrosse, American football, etc. Additionally, Under Armour also produces normal T-shirts and pants. Under Armour leads the market with its breakthroughs in body-fitting and temperature-regulating clothing.

While the tight, functional shirts and pants serve specialized needs, Under Armour also offers polo shirts and T-shirts with a more relaxed cut for those who prefer their sportwear a little less skin tight.

Among other things, Under Armour supports the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. Likewise, Igor Andreev and Robby Ginepri have played for years in Under Armour clothes. In the future, more pro players will definitely be following these athletes’ example. Meanwhile, Under Armour has also got its foot in the door of the German sports market too, for example, with the Hannover 96 club football team.