Tennis Random, Random (On Court)

[Deuce]

You gave him the only accurate response, as far as I'm concerned. The best racquet is the one which feels and performs the best for the individual - and that can only be determined by the individual him/her self.
Elements like flex, balance, weight, swingweight, etc. are very personal things - not to mention strings and string tension.
What feels great and performs great for me may feel terrible and perform terribly for someone else - even someone of the same ability level - and vice-versa.

It's a lot like food, really... "Hey - buy this, it tastes great." ... "Aak!! (spit) - it's awful!"
It's all about personal preference - with the emphasis on personal.
This is why the great majority of pro players don't change racquets - the racquet company simply paints their racquets to look like the model that the company wants to sell. When they find a racquet that feels right, they don't change - many of them are using the same model they used coming up in Juniors (painted to look like a current model - which is a blatantly dishonest business practice, but I digress).
This has been the case with pro racquets since the early 1990s. Prior to that, racquet models lasted much longer on the market, and so there was no reason to re-paint them. These days, models last about 2 years on the market before they're inevitably replaced with something which promises "more power and control" - which, if true over the years, would mean that we'd all be able to hit the ball through the fence, and be able to hit a dime on the court whenever we wish.

Perhaps this discussion could be put in the 'Equipment - Racquets/Strings' section.

.

[ponchi101]

I'm not sure where to put this. Sorry if this isn't it and please feel free to move this. I have a friend in Brazil who calls himself and intermediate player. I'm not exactly sure what that means. He asked me what a good tennis racket would be for him. Because of back stuff I had to stop playing about 6 years ago and so I don't follow equipment anymore. Could some of you just give me a recommendation or two? I told him that there is no one "best" racket and a lot depends on what you learned on and your style of play, but he still wants a recommendation. Thanks in advance.

Kevin

I will stick to Wilson because I have not tried other racquets lately.
For intermediate, I would give the CLASH line a try. They are soft and have decent power. I tried one but it was strung with very poor strings and that did not help.
BURNS are also good.
I would stay away from Babolats. They are GREAT racquets but you need a lot of skill to control all that power. GREAT here is just a consensus; I personally don't think anything good about them, but I guess Rafa and Mugu and the 50 other top pros that use them will laugh at me.
Stay away from the Wilson Pro Staffs. Great racquets, in the hands of pros. In our clumsy claws, he will need to accelerate way faster than what an intermediate can.
I would tell him to focus less on the racquet and more on the strings. A great racquet with bad strings is a bad racquet (what happen to me and that CLASH I tried). A moderate racquet with really good strings will be a much better choice always.

Yonexes are also high skill racquets. No matter what they say, there is not a single Yonex not designed for Martina Navratilova at her prime. Awesome, but I don't know if the new ones come with more power (they were famous for fabulous controls, zero power by themselves).

[dmforever]

I'm not sure where to put this. Sorry if this isn't it and please feel free to move this. I have a friend in Brazil who calls himself and intermediate player. I'm not exactly sure what that means. He asked me what a good tennis racket would be for him. Because of back stuff I had to stop playing about 6 years ago and so I don't follow equipment anymore. Could some of you just give me a recommendation or two? I told him that there is no one "best" racket and a lot depends on what you learned on and your style of play, but he still wants a recommendation. Thanks in advance.

Kevin

I will stick to Wilson because I have not tried other racquets lately.
For intermediate, I would give the CLASH line a try. They are soft and have decent power. I tried one but it was strung with very poor strings and that did not help.
BURNS are also good.
I would stay away from Babolats. They are GREAT racquets but you need a lot of skill to control all that power. GREAT here is just a consensus; I personally don't think anything good about them, but I guess Rafa and Mugu and the 50 other top pros that use them will laugh at me.
Stay away from the Wilson Pro Staffs. Great racquets, in the hands of pros. In our clumsy claws, he will need to accelerate way faster than what an intermediate can.
I would tell him to focus less on the racquet and more on the strings. A great racquet with bad strings is a bad racquet (what happen to me and that CLASH I tried). A moderate racquet with really good strings will be a much better choice always.

Yonexes are also high skill racquets. No matter what they say, there is not a single Yonex not designed for Martina Navratilova at her prime. Awesome, but I don't know if the new ones come with more power (they were famous for fabulous controls, zero power by themselves).

Thanks. That's super helpful. It also made me laugh because I played with...a Wilson Pro Staff.

Kevin

[ponchi101]

...

Thanks. That's super helpful. It also made me laugh because I played with...a Wilson Pro Staff.

Kevin

I played all my youth with Pro Staff's, the original 6.0 and then the Classic 6.1 (95 sqin). And I don't think I could play with them again, although I would love to give one of the old 6.1's a try.
Then again, I wonder what your friend means by intermediate. The difference from a 4.0 in the NTRP and a 5.0 is where I make the break between intermediate and advanced.
BTW. The new Pro Staff V13 looks super nice. But I don't know if your friend wants to go that way, and pay that kind of money.

[JazzNU]

Not sure where to put this

[ponchi101]

I gather the Aussie Open will not reveal whether Australia will let him in or not.

[JazzNU]

Another Bedene here. If these guys ever get hooked with repaying the investments that were put into their training, they are in big trouble. If we see a few too many switches, they really might start demanding that.

[mmmm8]

I gather the Aussie Open will not reveal whether Australia will let him in or not.

This isn't up to the Australian Open but to the Victoria government and they're very strict on this.

[JazzNU]

Another day, another tennis article Google puts in my face to see if it is any interest to me.

It's apparently the week to air grievances in the Fognini household because there's one article featuring quotes from Flavia about how she's not a fan of the balance in the WTA and doesn't think it's good for tennis. That in her day some young girl playing from qualifying has no chance to win a Grand Slam, that top players would've put an end to her before that. Says there's something missing and makes tennis more difficult to sell.

And then in a second article, Fabio is calling out Sinner and saying he was completely wrong to not represent Italy at the Olympics and that bad decisions such as that have consequences. And there's a former Italian Davis Cup team captain (Barrazutti is the name I think) calling him out as well, wondering about his values.

[mmmm8]

Does Flavia remember why she won a Slam? Vinci was unseeded.

[JazzNU]

This won't come as a big shock around here since @ponchi let us know earlier in the year that she goes by Cami, but Maria Camila Osorio Serrano appears to now be going by Camila Osorio. In Indian Wells, her name was listed as longer version and I just happened to have checked her WTA page and IG the other day, and it was still that. And her name in this week's written draw is also still in the longer form. So I believe the change occurred this week.

https://www.wtatennis.com/players/32589 ... io-serrano

[ti-amie]

Another day, another tennis article Google puts in my face to see if it is any interest to me.

It's apparently the week to air grievances in the Fognini household because there's one article featuring quotes from Flavia about how she's not a fan of the balance in the WTA and doesn't think it's good for tennis. That in her day some young girl playing from qualifying has no chance to win a Grand Slam, that top players would've put an end to her before that. Says there's something missing and makes tennis more difficult to sell.

And then in a second article, Fabio is calling out Sinner and saying he was completely wrong to not represent Italy at the Olympics and that bad decisions such as that have consequences. And there's a former Italian Davis Cup team captain (Barrazutti is the name I think) calling him out as well, wondering about his values.

Mmmm8 is right but so is Flavia.

[JTContinental]

Lol at “in her day” when she retired like five years ago.

[JazzNU]

Lol at “in her day” when she retired like five years ago.

Hilarious. I think her wording was "in my time."

[ponchi101]

About Maria Camila. That is a bit odd. Colombians are very proud of using their full names. Something like John Jairo Sarmiento Barrangones, until there are no more spaces in the online application form.
But by now she is getting the Cami tag back home. BTW: Camila and Camilo are very popular names.