Yesterday I had the opportunity to hit with the new RF97A and here's my best attempt at a review. Side note, the short version of how this came about is that one of the guys I play with regularly is very close friends with someone who has strong philanthropic ties to Federer and recently received the new racquet from the GOAT during a dinner the two had together in NYC. He then lent it to my hitting partner for a few days who in turn let me play with it when we hit yesterday.
Before I get too far into this, I think it’s worth mentioning that I currently play with the KFactor Pro Staff 88 (and have been since 2009). I did dabble a bit with the Blade 93 (stock form) and really liked it, but ultimately couldn't switch because what I gained in forehand racquet head speed, I lost in depth on my backhand, steadiness at the net and heaviness on my serve. I am in my early 30’s, I play more singles than doubles, although I enjoy both. I play a serve and volley style game. And I play USTA 4.5 in Nor Cal.
Anyway, back to the review. The racquet was strung up the way Fed supposedly has it - that's Natural Gut in the mains and Luxilon 4G in the crosses at 56/57lbs. After warming up with it, we played two sets over two hours and here’s what I thought.
Weight: Right away it felt good in the hands. I know that I play with a heavy racquet already, but I do not share TW reviewers' overwhelming view that the racquet is too heavy for the broader tennis playing public. Yes, it’s on the heavier side of the spectrum but anyone who was comfortable playing with previous iterations of the pro staff or 6.1's (which at one point was huge number of players) will not find this racquet overwhelming. The balance/swing weight result in a racquet that is much more maneuverable than my kfps88. With my kfps88, I am forced to get into position early and extend the length of my strokes on every shot. Hitting hard topspin forehands on the run (especially stretched out wide) are very hard with kfps88 because it’s difficult to maneuver. That is not the case with the RF97A. And as a result the access to spin is huge.
Spin: When hitting from the baseline you really get a sense that this racquet was built for Fed. If you emulate his shot style, hitting the forehand way out in front with a semi-western grip and following through across the body, thereby creating dramatic racquet head speed right before and at impact, then you will see truly splendid depth and power. The ball seems to catapult off the string bed and yet somehow there’s enough spin to bring it back to Earth just in time (most of the time). This style of forehand is not as easy to accomplish with the kfps88 - there’s no way to generate that sort of racquet head speed shot after shot because it’s just not as maneuverable as the RF97A. I also noticed that I could access more backspin with RF97A. I tend to approach behind a backhand slice cross court and when I did that with the RF97A, the ball stayed low and slid out a bit more dramatically than it does when I slice with my kfps88.
Power: One thing that I noticed right away is that the strings felt too lively for me. My kfps88’s are strung up with RPM Blast 18 gauge at 50lbs. Clearly to compensate for the increase in power from the larger hoop and frame of the RF97A, tension must be increased. Fed has supposedly increased his tension 8lbs or so. And if I were to string this racquet with the poly of my choice, I think I would also go up 5-6 lbs. That being said, Fed’s hybrid set up was too springy for me. I hit a number of balls that were 6-12 inches behind the baseline and I think that if I had a deader string set up (like all Poly) than I would have had a bit more control over the power.
Serve: The racquet is great on the serve. That’s where the weight helps but also the maneuverability is clutch. I was able to access some serious kick with the RF97A. I served balls that bounced much higher than they do when I use my kfps88 simply because it’s easier to maneuver the RF97A when coming over the top of ball. And that’s impressive because the grip size I typically use is 4 3/8 and the RF97A I played with was a 4 1/2 grip. That should have made it more difficult to flick, so I imagine with the smaller grip I could have generated even more kick. Crazy.
Volleys: This is what it’s all about. After playing with the racquet for two hours I am totally convinced that this racquet was built for Fed so that he could accomplish more at the net. While the power and spin may help his backhand a bit, I don’t think that he’s suddenly going to have better results against Nadal because he’ll be able to better withstand the barrage of high bouncing balls to his backhand. No. It isn’t a magic racquet. But the bigger head (and bigger sweet spot) make a huge difference up at the net. For those of you who come to net after you serve (not many of us anymore) than I’m sure you’ve had the experience of coming in on a powerful return. In that moment, it can be hard to hit the volley in the exact center of the sweet spot of your racquet. And 1-2 inches off center can make a huge difference in how dialed in your volley will be. Catching the ball a little too high in your string bed and the volley won’t have much depth or power, alternatively hitting too low in the string bed and you might see your volley fly long. If you’ve had this experience and you’re playing with a small sweet spot racquet like the kfps88, than you will notice right away that the RF97A is dramatically more forgiving at net. When your opponent strikes powerful and/or dipping passing shots, this racquets larger sweet spot increases your chances of hitting a good volley. Even if you’re off center by 1 or 2 inches the volley is still excellent. No exaggeration, this racquet is so amazing at the net that I could see myself getting one just for those games during doubles matches where my partner is serving. I know that sounds ridiculous but it really was awesome at net.
Conclussion: I think this racquet is going to be a great option for a lot of advanced players. If you’ve got the fundamentals down and have played with pro staff racquets in the past, this racquet will feel very evolutionary. It will provide you with a lot of the spin and power you’ve been on the receiving end of when hitting with friends who are using Babolat racquets, but not at the expense of the control you associate with pro staffs. I think this is because of the weight, but I don’t really know. Maybe it’s the PWS or balance or swing weight or a combination of all three. All I can assure you is that the power does not come at the expense of control. That said, there is a consequence, the racquet is stiff and less comfortable than I’m used to and that maybe the deal breaker for me. We shall see.
I hope you enjoyed the review and I hope you all get to hit with one soon.
