Does Tsonga get 10mph more with his Babolat?

[heninfan99]

Tsonga has always had a powerful serve but are his serve and groundies a bit bigger now that he wields a Babolat???

[dominikk1985]

I think it's mostly the hot weather that boosts the serve Speeds at the AO.

Wawrinka and almagro also served a couple serves above 220 kph

[racertempo]

Originally Posted by heninfan99

Tsonga has always had a powerful serve but are his serve and groundies a bit bigger now that he wields a Babolat???

He has had Babolat for as long as I can remember, at least the last several years which have been the prime of his game, so I don't think it has anything to do with the frame.

[corners]

Originally Posted by heninfan99

Tsonga has always had a powerful serve but are his serve and groundies a bit bigger now that he wields a Babolat???

Not very much bigger. The Babolat Arero Pro Drive, if customized to the same specs as Federer's Tour 90, would have nearly identical "power" in the center of the stringbed. If he hit the center with either racquet the resulting shot speeds would be within .5 mph of each other (using the same strings of course.)

Where the stiffer Babolat APD might give a little extra shot speed is on shots hit toward the sides of the frame, where the APD might give Tsonga an extra 1 mph, and toward the tip of the frame, where he might get 1-2 extra mph 2 inches above center, and 3-4 extra if he hits 4 inches above center. Many pros tend to hit the ball above the center of the strings on groundstrokes. So if Tsonga is like that his groundstrokes might be 1-2 mph, max, faster with the APD than the Tour 90. Most pros hit about 2 inches above center when serving, so its likely that Tsonga gets about 2 mph extra with his APD on serve.

[TennezSport]

It's all in Tsonga's recent change in strings. Tsonga is now using the same string setup as Federer, Djokovic and Murray; NG/Lux Alu Power hybrid.

Cheers, TennezSport

[crosscourt]

Originally Posted by heninfan99

Tsonga has always had a powerful serve but are his serve and groundies a bit bigger now that he wields a Babolat???

It was reported that the spin of the Babolat was the reason for the change. So he may be hitting the ball with more power in a different trajectory.

[tennisnut123]

Originally Posted by TennezSport

It's all in Tsonga's recent change in strings. Tsonga is now using the same string setup as Federer, Djokovic and Murray; NG/Lux Alu Power hybrid.

Cheers, TennezSport

Alu Power Rough...right?

And im pretty sure that he used straight up alu rough when he was using the blade tour (or what was painted to look like a blade tour) back when he made his breakout Australian run.

[LeeD]

He's 6'2" and 185lbs.
Notice Fed hits just as hard with that tiny racket.

[sixone90]

Originally Posted by tennisnut123

Alu Power Rough...right?

And im pretty sure that he used straight up alu rough when he was using the blade tour (or what was painted to look like a blade tour) back when he made his breakout Australian run.

I think it was just ALU Power

[Relinquis]

these guys have been serving so well, it's in Serena Williams territory...

What's her set up? Also NatGut/Poly

[dr325i]

Originally Posted by TennezSport

It's all in Tsonga's recent change in strings. Tsonga is now using the same string setup as Federer, Djokovic and Murray; NG/Lux Alu Power hybrid.

Cheers, TennezSport

Murray is NOT using the same setup as Djokovic/Federer...

[PED]

Originally Posted by LeeD

He's 6'2" and 185lbs.
Notice Fed hits just as hard with that tiny racket.

I think he's a bit bigger than 185 lol

[raging]

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/P...ed-Tsonga.aspx

It has got nothing to do with the racquet.

[NetNinja68]

Originally Posted by crosscourt

It was reported that the spin of the Babolat was the reason for the change. So he may be hitting the ball with more power in a different trajectory.

Who told you that B.S., the Babolat rep?? It was for $$$. If spin was his true motivator, he'd have switched to the new Steam 99s already...

[The Bawss]

Lol some of you guys are either 15 or just really cute with a very simplistic world view. Tsonga changed to babolat when he hit the big time because babolat approached him with lots of $$$ when he became the best player/prospect for French tennis. And that is a fact.

[movdqa]

I think that the huge amount of lead in his frame has more to do with his power than the Babolat that he uses.

[tennisnut123]

Originally Posted by The Bawss

Lol some of you guys are either 15 or just really cute with a very simplistic world view. Tsonga changed to babolat when he hit the big time because babolat approached him with lots of $$$ when he became the best player/prospect for French tennis. And that is a fact.

haha so true, only seems right that a Company based in France would want to have the number one French player on board...money money money money

[NLBwell]

Maybe +1 mph. Strings, weighting, etc. have far more effect.

[crosscourt]

Originally Posted by NetNinja68

Who told you that B.S., the Babolat rep?? It was for $$$. If spin was his true motivator, he'd have switched to the new Steam 99s already...

If only I had thought of that.

[Harry_Wild]

Originally Posted by Relinquis

these guys have been serving so well, it's in Serena Williams territory...

What's her set up? Also NatGut/Poly

William Sisters string with natural gut - at high tension maybe in the 60s. She and Venus now use a racket that was going to be tried out by Roger but some how got into Serena's hands! It was painted black and she played a whole tournament with this one Wilson racket - she won the tournament too. Venus tried it out too and love it. If I recalled he old racket was a Prostaff Original 95 with a PJ for her Blade 104(current) and then she went to the Wilson thick frames for a year or so(early 2000?) and came back to her original frame until she try out the black racket.