Interesting. I really appreciate your responses, Retro. Did you ever try the Le Coq and Fila frames? I was a kid during the 80's but for me, it was the golden age of frames. Seemed like there were at least 25 or 30 companies making frames back then. Watching the World Cup and seeing the Kelme logo reminded me of Martinez. I never saw Kelme frames either but it seems odd she would plaster the Kelme logo on another brand's frame (not like the paint job fiascos of today).
Hi Kevin,
Yes, I did try the Fila Champion, and the Le Coq Sportif TXM and TCO (the Yannick Noah wood-composite). Interesting frames for sure; these models certainly added to the color and glamour of tennis in the 1980's. I played Kneissl myself at the time, switching to those green 1988 Austrian-made Head Elite Pros in '88. Still have them, and play them regularly, in fact. Some of those Fila composites were made in Belgium by Snauwaert, so although there were dozens of "brands," there were slightly fewer actual manufacturers than brands (Kennex being chief among OEM's for many "branded" frames, including Prince, Wimbledon, Antelop, among others sold in the USA).
You know, before the "paint job" phenomenon as we now recognize it, there were some obvious logo/stencil/paint oddities in the pro ranks in the 80's and 90's. Think of Lendl's use of PJ'ed Kneissl White Star Pros, until Adidas got their factory up and running to make a similar frame for Lendl (and the public) in France. Navratilova had a falling-out with Yonex and played one AELTC with crudely blacked-out Dunlop Max 200g's! And Edberg, when his Wilson contract to play the Pro Staff Mid lapsed, had a sort of strange trial of the Adidas Delta series of frames and then wound up back with a Wilson in his hand, minus the "W" stencil. Towards the end of his ATP career, John McEnroe played tournaments with Dunlops with Snauwaert stencils, and Snauwaert with no stencils, and Voelkls with Snauwaert stencils, and... and... (well, maybe I exaggerate on Mac.) Also recall that many Euro pros had the Babolat two stripes on their strings (although this was admittedly prior to Babolat's marketing of their brand of frames, their stringsets were widely identified by the stencil - in many cases the only stencil on a journeyman's strings).
