A number of you have asked questions related to the differences between the last Pro Staff RF97 Autograph and this new one outside of the new design and similar details. One of the other often asked questions on TT is about Federer’s own racket and if it’s anything close to retail. Those two questions in fact relate very closely to each other. The fact is that the Pro Staff RF97 you can buy at any retailer is the EXACT SAME FRAME that Roger Federer plays with - same layup, same materials, same specs. It’s identical. So when Roger decided upon his final frame after trying dozens of prototypes back in 2014, we then released that exact same racket to the public. With this new co-designed 2016 Pro Staff RF97, we again went back to Roger and he said that he loved his new racket and all the benefits it gave him. He did not want to change the specs or the layup at all. But Roger is very passionate about design and expressed his desire to be very involved in the design of his next racket and working with us to create the look and feel of his new racket well over a year ago. As a result, and to stay true to the racket Roger actually plays with, our focus with Roger on this new stealthy black Pro Staff RF97 has been the dimension of design, feel, and perfection of details and working with Roger to make it be exactly what he wanted. To do this, we had to start with a blank slate and strip away all the noise and clutter that exists on rackets today. Roger wanted to create a design that communicated him and his style – clean lines, classic, sleek, elegant, bold, uncontaminated. Roger’s direction even translated past the Pro Staff RF97 to other new rackets and packaging as well. Roger shared this vision with us, and then the co-creation began. Together we pushed the boundaries of what has ever been done before with a tennis racket, and it forced us to even re-invent our manufacturing methods and engineer different paint feels and textures to provide a tactile experience for the best feel of a tennis racket in your hands ever.
Nathan