One of the largest private collections of antique tennis rackets and accessories from the late 1800s and early 1900s will be auctioned to commemorate the iconic tennis tournament, Roland-Garros, which will take place from May 28 to June 11, 2023. Tennis enthusiasts will have a new opportunity to connect delve into the sport’s history thanks to the collection, which will be available for purchase through OpenSea platform and includes authentic physical items and NFT collectibles.
During his decade-long journey of passion, a private collection of 91 lots was curated by the Dubai-based IT entrepreneur and CEO of a Belarusian branch of fintech giant Koronapay Europe. Slava Babienko, an avid tennis player, collected items at auctions all over the world, eventually amassing the largest collection of original antique rackets, tennis balls, tournament cups and even tennis-themed stamps in the CIS.
“To showcase the unique story behind each racket and to give collectors a new opportunity to interact with their purchase in new ways, my team and I have designed high-quality NFT tokens to accompany each original object sold. I believes that the enthusiasm for collecting antiques must evolve with technology. Thanks to state-of-the-art technological advances, we can now appreciate coveted objects in our own private spaces, while creating a high-quality digital footprint, providing a whole new experience.” says Slava.
Using $100,000 worth of professional 3D equipment to produce the highest resolution virtual collectibles, Babienko and team created virtual collectibles that would showcase antiques down to the smallest detail, preserving every crack, wear and tear one would expect to see on a historic artifact .
“It’s a completely new approach to acquiring antiques. Before, only the collector, their family and close friends saw the items. NFT technology, on the other hand, now allows us to reach a wider audience and make the collection of rare items more attractive to younger, tech-savvy collectors, while creating a digital footprint of the historic object online Apart from collecting, NFTs have educational value as another way to preserve the memory and image of unique objects from past centuries,” adds Babienko.
To learn more about the collection, visit https://antiquerackets.com/
This article was written in collaboration with PR Partners
