Why did Vilas switch fro Head to Slazenger ?

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Lendlisking

New User
Saw an old add for Vilas swinging a Slazenger wood frame ( standard wood frame ) after he swung his signature frame from Head for years. Question is....why did he switch to a smaller head frame when the Head wood frame he swung was slightly bigger ? Curious ?
 
vsbabolat

vsbabolat

G.O.A.T.
I would assume Vilas switched from HEAD to Slazenger for financial reasons. The HEAD Vilas was a open throat conventional head sized wood with graphite inlay racquet. The First Slazenger Vilas racquet the Slazenger Guillermo Vilas was a mono shaft conventional racquet that was all wood. Then in 1982 Vilas swiched to the Slazenger V-24 a midsize open throat wood and Graphite inlay racquet. With Slazenger V-24 Vilas got to the 1982 French Open Final losing to Mats Wilander.
 
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L

Lendlisking

New User
vsbabolat said:
I would assume Vilas switched from HEAD to Slazenger for financial reasons. The HEAD Vilas was a open throat conventional head sized wood with graphite inlay racquet. The First Slazenger Vilas racquet the Slazenger Guillermo Vilas was a mono shaft conventional racquet that was all wood. Then in 1982 Vilas swiched to the Slazenger V-24 a midsize open throat wood and Graphite inlay racquet. With Slazenger V-24 Vilas got to the 1982 French Open Final losing to Mats Wilander.
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Thank you so much for that awesome information !! Knowledgeable tennis people like yourself are the reason these boards are so great !! If I have any other questions I will know where to come ! Thanks again !
 
Tsonga#1fan

Tsonga#1fan

Semi-Pro
Just for some people's possible interest, before Vilas signed with HEAD to help develop the "Vilas" frame, he used the Wilson Kramer Auto and before that the Dunlop Maxply Fort. As for his switch to Slazenger, it was a move for money. HEAD continued to market that Vilas frame for a couple of years, although the name was changed. Obviously, the midsize frames were coming into play more and more and many traditional racquets were to start to see the end of their lives.
 
Puddy

Puddy

Rookie
gavna said:
Its was plain and simple M O N E Y - At the time Vilas left Head they were developing the midsize Vilas frame and after Vilas signed and went to Slazenger Head continued production and it was renamed the Edgewood (in the early 80's the graphite/fiberglass Head Edge was a hugely popular frame) - The Edgewood was a great frame and looks exactly like the the std Head Vilas -

Check out this site www.8Ws-tennis.com/pages/head-edgewood.html. also tons of info on 80's sticks. FYI Pat Cash also used the V-24 and in his epic 5 setter vs Lendl on the first "Super Saturday" helped start a run on them for awhile - I remember not being able to keep them in stock for a few months in our shop.
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Lame question: Was the Head Vilas the same exact thing as the Head Edgewood?

Take care!
 
Don't Let It Bounce

Don't Let It Bounce

Hall of Fame
If it isn't clear from the linked photos, and if you missed the earlier posts explaining the two racquets, they are even two different types of racquets: the Vilas was standard-sized, and the Edgewood was a mid.
 
jimbo333

jimbo333

Hall of Fame
So even though Vilas played with quite a few different racquets, did he win his 4 Grand Slam titles (FR77,US77,AUS78 and AUS79) all with his Head Vilas racquet?

I'm sure he did use Head Vilas for the middle 2, but not sure about first French Open in 77, and especially the last Aus Open in 79 as that was when Aus Open was at end of the year I think?
 
jimbo333

jimbo333

Hall of Fame
jimbo333 said:
So even though Vilas played with quite a few different racquets, did he win his 4 Grand Slam titles (FR77,US77,AUS78 and AUS79) all with his Head Vilas racquet?

I'm sure he did use Head Vilas for the middle 2, but not sure about first French Open in 77, and especially the last Aus Open in 79 as that was when Aus Open was at end of the year I think?
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Someone here must know what racquet Vilas was using when he won the French Open in 1977 and the Aus Open in 1979 please?

VSB? Anyone?
 
A

adidasman

Professional
Don't Let It Bounce said:
If it isn't clear from the linked photos, and if you missed the earlier posts explaining the two racquets, they are even two different types of racquets: the Vilas was standard-sized, and the Edgewood was a mid.
Click to expand...
Also, the Vilas had a wedge up at the top of the frame, made of graphite if I'm not mistaken (or maybe boron), that added weight and strength to the head. The Edgewood didn't have that.
 
brinkeguthrie

brinkeguthrie

Hall of Fame
I loved the Head Vilas. At the start of 1980, he switched to Slazenger's Vilas Tour, as well as Ellesse clothing.

The V24 was a club. I bought one and didn't like it.
 
vsbabolat

vsbabolat

G.O.A.T.
adidasman said:
Also, the Vilas had a wedge up at the top of the frame, made of graphite if I'm not mistaken (or maybe boron), that added weight and strength to the head. The Edgewood didn't have that.
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It was Graphite in the Vilas. The Edgewood had a narrower inlay of graphite in the hoop also.
 
brinkeguthrie

brinkeguthrie

Hall of Fame
vsbabolat said:
It was the HEAD Vilas at the French Open 1977 and 1979 Aus Open. Oh and he was wearing Ellesse iat the 79' Aus open.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2qUnpITh08&translated=1
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we sure about Ellesse?
Ellesse launched its first tennis line 1975 and quickly catapulted itself into one of the major tennis brands - instantly becoming a reference point for international tennis. That same year, Ellesse developed a new logo, still used and highly recognized today. Evoking the two sports in which Ellesse has been most visible and active - ski and tennis - the logo represents half tennis ball with two red seams denoting ski tips. In 1980, Ellesse signed sponsorship agreements with top-ranked tennis players Chris Evert and Guillermo Vilas. In 1983, it signed a 15 year old German tennis player believed to have outstanding potential - Boris Becker. Becker went on to become one of the most recognized tennis personalities of all time, winning his first Wimbledon title in 1985 at the age of 17, and defending his title the following year in Ellesse. Now a legendary brand, Ellesse has highlighted every decade with its unique personality and pioneering advances, and continues to lead the way in premium product. Little wonder Ellesse has been loved since 1959.

Ellesse sponsors top tennis players including Guillermo Vilas (1980-1983), Chris Evert (1980-1986), Boris Becker (1983-1986), Hana Mandlikova, Jo Durie and Henri Leconte (1983).
 
vsbabolat

vsbabolat

G.O.A.T.
brinkeguthrie said:
we sure about Ellesse?
Ellesse launched its first tennis line 1975 and quickly catapulted itself into one of the major tennis brands - instantly becoming a reference point for international tennis. That same year, Ellesse developed a new logo, still used and highly recognized today. Evoking the two sports in which Ellesse has been most visible and active - ski and tennis - the logo represents half tennis ball with two red seams denoting ski tips. In 1980, Ellesse signed sponsorship agreements with top-ranked tennis players Chris Evert and Guillermo Vilas. In 1983, it signed a 15 year old German tennis player believed to have outstanding potential - Boris Becker. Becker went on to become one of the most recognized tennis personalities of all time, winning his first Wimbledon title in 1985 at the age of 17, and defending his title the following year in Ellesse. Now a legendary brand, Ellesse has highlighted every decade with its unique personality and pioneering advances, and continues to lead the way in premium product. Little wonder Ellesse has been loved since 1959.

Ellesse sponsors top tennis players including Guillermo Vilas (1980-1983), Chris Evert (1980-1986), Boris Becker (1983-1986), Hana Mandlikova, Jo Durie and Henri Leconte (1983).
Click to expand...

Yes I am sure about Ellesse. Because at the end of the video when Vilas won the 1979 Australian Open which took place in December then, he was wearing Ellesse. So there you go. At 1:30 in the video you can clearly see the Ellesse logo. Too bad you did not watch the video.

P.S. Vilas wore Ellesse until at least 1986. Ownership of Ellesse has changes hands a few times in the last 20 years.
 
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jimbo333

jimbo333

Hall of Fame
gavna said:
It sure did - it was a graphite inlay - The Edgewood even had the same color layup of black, gold and red. I played with the Vilas in HS and then the Edgewood in college for 3 yrs - If you put them side by side the only difference was the headsize. 80s-tennis has pics of both
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Yes, and there are at least 3 other Head Wood/Graphite racquets that are similar, but this is the best:)

1zfk587.jpg


The Head Vector (Wood/Graphite), size is in between Vilas and Edgewood, it is an amazing racquet, I used it for about 3 years in early 80's!
 
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