Backhandworld.com

A look at an antique Victorian junior tennis racquet

john key — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:32:53 +0000

Here is a cute junior racquet from my collection dated circa 1900. It is 24 inches in length and is suprizingly light. Next to my current racquet it demonstrates clearly the huge advances in today’s construction process.

Antique racquet construction

The racquets of this period were made of a pliable material such as ash which would have been steamed around a mold. Next (in this example) a convex wedged throat piece of a hardwood such as walnut would be inserted and glued and pinned into place.

The grip size would have been determined by inserting a tapered piece of wood between the steamed bent ash at the handle, or sometimes the walnut throat wedge would extend down for this purpose. Two wooden strips of (normally) cedar were then added to both sides of the grip to widen it and make it look more attractive. A leather butt cap was then added (missing on my racquet) to the bottom of the handle to hide the wooden layers, and finally a leather strip was wrapped around the base of the grip.

The racquet was then oiled or varnished to protect the wood.

The strings

Once the holes were drilled, the racquets were strung in gut from sheep or cattle intestines.

John Key

Which tennis racquets are used by the top pros?

john key — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 13:32:41 +0000

I thought that it would be really beneficial to let you know which tennis racquets are used by the top pros on the mens and womens tour. This may be a useful list when you decide it’s time for a new tennis racquet and you would like to play with the same model as your favourite player.

Let us know if you are aware of any change of racquet by the pros below and we’ll update our information.

Men

Roger Federer - Wilson, nSix-One Tour (90″ head)

Marat Safin - Head, Flexpoint Prestige Mid

Benjamin Becker - Babolat, Pure Control

Robin Soderling - Head, Flexpoint Radical

Tommy Haas - Dunlop, Aerogel 400

Guillermo Coria - Prince, 03 Tour

Rafal Nadal - Babolat, Aeropro Drive

Carlos Moya - Babolat, Pure Drive Team

Fabrice Santoro - Head, Flexipoint Radical MP

Andre Agassi - Head, Flexpoint Radical OS

David Nalbandian - Yonex, RDS 001 (98)

Tommy Robredo - Dunlop, Aerogel 300

Andy Roddick - Babolat, Pure Drive Roddick

Gaston Gaudio - Wilson, nSix-One (95″)

Nicolas Kiefer - Wilson, nSix-One (95″)

Women

Amelie Mauresmo - Head, Flexpoint Radical MP

Venus Williams - Wilson, n4

Martina Hingis - Yonex, RQS 11

Lindsay Davenport - Wilson, nTour

Anastasia Myskina - Head, Flexpoint Instinct

Justine Henin - Wilson, nTour-Two

Jelena Jankovic - Prince, 03 Red

Ana Ivanovic - Wilson, nTour

Maria Sharapova - Prince, 03 White

Serena Williams - Wilson, n3

Kim Klijsters - Babolat, Pure Drive Cortex

Tatiana Gilvin - Wilson, n4 Midplus

Elana Likhovtseva - Wilson, nSix-One (95″)

How on earth did Jimmy Connors play with a Wilson T2000 racquet?

john key — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:18:39 +0000

I have often wondered how Jimmy Connors played with the Wilson T2000 racquet. The sweet spot was tiny, the shape unforgiving and stringing them was a hassle. Standard stringing machines required an adapter. Very few pro players used the Wilson T2000 racquet and it’s a credit to Jimbo that he wielded this thing with the perfection that he did. It suited Jimmy’s game because the racquet required you to hit the ball pretty flat, to which he duly obliged.

At the heart of the T2000 was the wire wrapped around the frame. Strings were not threaded through holes like standard frames but tucked around the wire. This helped catapult Jimmy’s shots to great speed.

In my eyes when I think of Jimmy Connors, I think Wilson T2000 not the Slazenger that he used later in his career.

A great racquet from the past - The Head Vilas

john key — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:05:17 +0000

When in 1977 I heard that Guillermo Vilas had signed a new racquet deal and was changing from the Wilson Jack Kramer Autograph, to a secret new Head Vilas racquet, I was intrigued. I was pretty sure that Head would have developed something special but I was truly impressed when the Head Vilas was unveiled.

The finish of the Vilas racquet was what you would expect of an expensive piece of furniture, a combination of lovely stained wood and polished laquer. The frame was laminated and had a strip of graphite inlaid between the laminates at the top. This gave the frame beautiful balance . The playability of the Head Vilas racquet was enhanced with an open throat which was very rare for a wooden racquet. If I remember correctly, the racquet in the UK came with a Fairway leather grip (the Rolls Royce of grips) as standard.

Vilas used this racquet to win a phenomenal number of matches, and the racquet proved to be as stylish as its endorsee.