The white one is the Slazenger Panther Pro Ceramic.
Connors only used the Pro Staff a little bit in 1984. He was back with the T-2000 until he switched to the Slazenger Panther Pro Ceramic. I'll never forget the match at the Lipton in 1986 where he flipped out playing Lendl and walked off the court.
I thought he used a banjo to play tennis with.
Actually, he went back and forth between the Pro Staff and the T-2000 during that period between 84 and 87. You can YouTube clips and see Connors using the Pro Staff as early as the 84 US Open. He was also using it at the 87 Lipton.
It's a horrible racket. The idea that he's continued to use it 20 years after Prince stopped producing it is puzzling. There's so many good frames out there. The Mono was an ugly frame that was poorly received by the public. I believe Prince discontinued it after 1 year.
Actually that was a Black Slazenger Panther Pro at Lipton in 1987. He used the Pro Staff at the US Open and Davis Cup in 1984 and did not use it much after that. At all the slams it was his T-2000 until 1987 when he switched to Slazenger.
I funnily enough use the Mono. I was lucky enough to get one on the bay and then one from one of the tt members. I think I'm probably the only person who owns or at least uses the racquet in South Africa ha ha . It's a great racquet to volley with and slice the BH. Maybe not the best for the serve but I'm better off with this racquet than the more modern wide beam ones which I tend to hit on the frame when I kick serve and send the ball over the fence at 45 degrees
It's a horrible racket (imo) I had one when it first came out. I couldn't get rid of it fast enough. It felt very unstable to me and it just looked silly. I had a pair of the yellow Estusa's that were stolen, along with the car they were in. That was my favorite Connors era racket.
Here's a pic of Connors at the 1987 Lipton. That's not a Pro Staff 85 that he using, looks to be a blacked out Slazenger or a prototype of it.
Interesting. I know he hated the PS and said it felt stiff as a board. He must have had an endorsement deal with Wilson that he had to respect. Maybe the reason it looks similar? Very thin beam on this frame whatever it isHere's a pic of Connors at the 1987 Lipton. That's not a Pro Staff 85 that he using, looks to be a blacked out Slazenger or a prototype of it.
Don't think Connors used the PS 85 very much after the fall of 1984.
Yes, Connors at Lipton and at the French Open was using the Slazenger Panther Pro Ceramic blacked out. Then at Wimbledon had the full white paint job of the Slazenger. I have a Slazenger Panther Pro Ceramic. Its the same mold as the Dunlop Black Max II, Silver Max, Max Competition, and other Dunlop frames that were made in West Germany.
So are Federer's Tour 90 and his RF97A. I think the top pros are good enough to use just about anything.
Connors also used the PS 85 in October 1983 at the Tokyo Indoor tournament:
I also have Panther Pro Ceramic and i can hit quite comfortably with it, T-2000 is completely different story. It's very difficult to topspin with it.
Which was fine for Connors' flat shots I reckon . Is that what his shot selection would be classified as ? Flat punch shots? I've seen him hit with a bit of side spin in the rare rally off the back hand but other than that both the FH and BH had similar results
I loved Chrissies 80s hair do ...I never noticed this before, because I always assumed that it was a PS85. How very interesting!
Now that I've seen the video (too bad there aren't any close-up stills from that tournament available online, where we can have a clear view of that racquet), I am wondering if what he was wielding was a forerunner of the Reflex/Odyssey series. The smaller open throat, the slightly more rounded head, the softer feel - these are all features that distinguished the latter from the PS series. Plus, the PS 85 frame geometry was largely based on that of the Sting Mid (minus the stabilizer bar and slightly beefed up), which was already available in '83, so why would they make such a big change to the frame less than a year before the commercial release, only to change it back months later?
Is it possible that Wilson was developing a number of new frames in parallel, from the stiffer model that was on track to become the PS to a softer version that later became the Odyssey, and Connors happened to prefer the softy at that time, which was then painted to look like the PS for him to use in these tournaments? Does the racquet on the left resemble the ones you had strung?
My Odyssey Comp was made in 1988, likely by Long-Yi (rather than San Ho Sun). It may be one of the last Wilson models made without a bumper; something that was quickly becoming an anachronism by then. Perhaps Wilson was recycling their R&D materials from the early '80s, and decided to commercialize the prototype that Connors once preferred over the PS85? It may have been marketed as a cheapo racquet, but it is a buttery smooth frame; one of my all time favorites.
Incidentally, watching Chris Evert returning Roscoe Tanner's serves with her wooden racquet was the true highlight of the video for me.
This pic and the others look at all that lead on the outside of the frame..The racquet he used at the 1984 US Open and after look like a Pro Staff Midsize but with a more rounded head.
Yes, on the seniors tour he used Wavex briefly.
Yup, Connors put the lead on the outside of the hoop but only on one side of hoop (3 or 9) but not the other. He was weird in that way.
Yeah, I've heard about this
..
He certainly was hitting serves harder with it at USO84.no i dont think he ever used wood.
btw i think he should have stuck with that PS85 in '84. it looked like he played well with it,
but i think he had one or two bad matches and went back to the T2000
maybe he could have won another major in '85/'86 if he didnt switch back who knows...
