Babolat now selling Duralast in the US?

[Nanshiki]

http://www.babolat.com/#/tennis/en/products/139

Babolat's site now lists Duralast (Nadal's real string, aka Tour Duralast, aka Pro Hurricane Nadal) as a "new" product... I wonder if this means it will be for sale in the US soon?

If it's a reasonably priced string, I might give it a try (seeing as how it needs to be restrung every set or so... apparently). I kind of like really stiff, rough strings... for the spin and control.

 

[some6uy008]

I think it'll be priced the same as Hurricane tour, the people on thE bay sells it for around that price.

 

[Syfo-Dias]

I guess they're finally going to cash in on all the Nadal wannabe's. I've read that stuff is extremely stiff and loses tension very quick, as you previously alluded to. Isn't it a Gen 1 poly? I guess some people will like it, but didn't Nadal himself say the only reason he uses it is because it's what he's used to and doesn't want to change? Not exactly a shining endorsement.

 

[Nanshiki]

I don't know. First generation poly or not, it apparently works for him... as he leads the tour in topspin by a fairly large margin (in terms of actual RPM).

The fact is that there's a market for the string (although the zBay prices are way overpriced), and I think Babolat decided to finally fill it.

 

[Nanshiki]

Also, for the record, Duralast is 50 Euros for a reel in Europe.

I'm hoping it will be similarly cheap in the US, if it's actually being released here.

 

[Syfo-Dias]

The spin he creates is 99.9% technique. Not saying strings don't make a difference, but Nadal is a human spin machine.

 

[Nanshiki]

It's more like 70% technique... if you gave another pro the same setup, they'd almost certainly get at least 90% of the RPMs he does. The difference is that they don't all go for max spin... a lot of pros want better pace and penetration instead of net clearance and bounce.

Also, I just noticed that the listing of Duralast on the Babolat site is only on the English (UK) version, not the American (US) version. Oh well.