“Mr. FILA”, Martin Frederick Mulligan

By Martin Mulligan

Saturday, July 10, 2021 will be an incredibly special day for the FILA brand, as two of our athletes, Ash Barty and Karolina Pliskova, compete for the Wimbledon women’s singles title. Unfortunately, for me, I will not have my father sitting next to me in the Player’s Box to watch the match together, as traveling at the moment due to COVID is quite challenging and prevented him from joining me.

Martin Frederick Mulligan aka “Mr. FILA”, my father, my idol, my mentor…, is the person responsible for starting the FILA Tennis division in the mid-1970s and remains the mastermind behind FILA’s proud history in tennis. FILA has had many talented and dedicated employees over the years all pulling in the same direction, but without scouting the talent, signing the athletes, maximizing our relatively modest budget compared to some of our competitors and providing exceptional service to our athletes, there is no FILA Tennis…period.

I am now in the envious position of working alongside my father at FILA. It is a huge honor and responsibility to carry forward the FILA legacy and our family’s legacy as well. I embrace the opportunity in front of me and look forward to many more amazing times ahead.

Thank you, Dad, for the life you have provided for me and our family. I imagine there are a lot of players (past and current) that are also grateful for what you have done for them. Cheers to you, Champ!