Does Wilson prevent other players from using 6.1 Tours?

[tennis_hand]

6.1 Tours including the old PS Tour, NCode Tour 90, and the current K Tour 90.

I mean, to market the exclusivity of N or K90 used only by Federer, does Wilson stop other pro players from using it? Say someone wants to use K90, but Wilson says you can't use it, we'll sponsor you K95 + pro-shop modification instead. And these pros just accept this, because Wilson pays them better than other racket companies and they understand that with pro mod, the exact model doesn't matter much any more. And then we have in the tennis world: only Fed uses K90, because of Wilson's barrier of entry. A smart marketing by Wilson.

And does this invalidate the argument that no other pros can use the K90 but Fed?

 

[JW10S]

No, they don't...

 

[lethalfang]

6.1 Tours including the old PS Tour, NCode Tour 90, and the current K Tour 90.

I mean, to market the exclusivity of N or K90 used only by Federer, does Wilson stop other pro players from using it? Say someone wants to use K90, but Wilson says you can't use it, we'll sponsor you K95 + pro-shop modification instead. And these pros just accept this, because Wilson pays them better than other racket companies and they understand that with pro mod, the exact model doesn't matter much any more. And then we have in the tennis world: only Fed uses K90, because of Wilson's barrier of entry. A smart marketing by Wilson.

And does this invalidate the argument that no other pros can use the K90 but Fed?

Why would Wilson refuse players from using K90?
They can always give them the K90 and paint them into K95.

 

[jasoncho92]

Not much of a paint job though lol

 

[lilxjohnyy]

.... i think a lot of pros use k90

 

[nBladed]

6.1 Tours including the old PS Tour, NCode Tour 90, and the current K Tour 90.

I mean, to market the exclusivity of N or K90 used only by Federer, does Wilson stop other pro players from using it? Say someone wants to use K90, but Wilson says you can't use it, we'll sponsor you K95 + pro-shop modification instead. And these pros just accept this, because Wilson pays them better than other racket companies and they understand that with pro mod, the exact model doesn't matter much any more. And then we have in the tennis world: only Fed uses K90, because of Wilson's barrier of entry. A smart marketing by Wilson.

And does this invalidate the argument that no other pros can use the K90 but Fed?

I have suspected this myself. But did you notice Fed's first rounder also used a K90? I think there are players that are using the K90 but they don't have a deal with Wilson.

In spite of people possibly disagreeing with your theorem, I do believe Wilson does have a "package" for players and the K95. Having Fed being the "only" player to use the K90, I think makes the racket mythic similar to Excalibur and Lancelot, in marketing terms. I find it HIGHLY unusual that a extremely high quality racket like the K90 (which is more stable and has more control than the K95) is not used by other pros.

Another example is Head Prestige. Many, many pros use the midsize vs. the midplus. Why should it be so lopsided when it comes to Wilson rackets?

 

[PBODY99]

That Is what paint jobs are for..

No, they don't have to do that. The deal at this level is they tell you what your racket looks like, and they try to mod one of their frames to your liking.

 

[tennis_hand]

well, my theory includes the paint job, because that is what the racket looks like and that is what the marketing is about.

I am not sure those players who are not sponsored by Wilson, e.g. Fed's first round opponent who nBladed said also uses K90. Perhaps they can use anything. But those players officially sponsored by Wilson probably are not allowed to use that racket, or at least that paint job.

 

[Casco]

The pros other than Federer using the 6.1 opt for the 95 sq. in. with the 18x20 string pattern. They use the 95 instead of the 90 because they need the extra size (and this still is less than the 100 sq. in. hoop size that most pros use now). They use the 18x20 instead of the 16x18 because of the extra control.

 

[rosenstar]

k90 is a horrible racquet. people say it has a small sweet spot, it doesn't have a sweet spot at all. there is no way it can possibly make you a better player, unless your roger federrer. I assure you that everyone else on tour is well aware of this.

 

[davey]

I think that guy that beat Roddick in the first round of the 2005 US Open used the nCode tour.

I haven't noticed anyone using the k90. If a player wanted it bad enough, I don't see why they couldn't just buy one and use it.

 

[BreakPoint]

I think that guy that beat Roddick in the first round of the 2005 US Open used the nCode tour.

I haven't noticed anyone using the k90. If a player wanted it bad enough, I don't see why they couldn't just buy one and use it.

That was Giles Muller who beat Roddick and he used a PS 6.0 95 with a nCode 95 paintjob on it. He may still be using the same racquet but with a K90 or K95 paintjob on it but I don't know since I haven't seem him play lately.

 

[davey]

BreakPoint,

I agree, I just googled Muller for images and it looks looks like a paint job of a PS 6.0. Google also turned up pics of him using a Babolat...

 

[Vision84]

I think not

Agreed. I see many K95s (at least the paint of it) but have not seen any K90s other than Federer.

 

[Salsa_Lover]

k90 is a horrible racquet. people say it has a small sweet spot, it doesn't have a sweet spot at all. there is no way it can possibly make you a better player, unless your roger federrer. I assure you that everyone else on tour is well aware of this.

The sweet spot is indeed there and is a great one.

You just have to learn how to swing the racket right.

 

[uni]

When i ballboyed at the US OPEN, on one of the outer courts, there was a female player with a k90 in her bag, but she was using a ntour

 

[Custom+Hybrid]

No this is highly unlikely.

Its just that pros are smarter than recreational players and choose racquets that compliment their game instead of trying to look hard and play with the racquet Federer plays.

 

[BreakPoint]

No this is highly unlikely.

Its just that pros are smarter than recreational players and choose racquets that compliment their game instead of trying to look hard and play with the racquet Federer plays.

But for some of us the K90 does indeed compliment our games.

 

[jackcrawford]

But for some of us the K90 does indeed compliment our games.

The game being pretending to be Federer, not the game of tennis itself:wink:

 

[quest01]

k90 is a horrible racquet. people say it has a small sweet spot, it doesn't have a sweet spot at all. there is no way it can possibly make you a better player, unless your roger federrer. I assure you that everyone else on tour is well aware of this.

I agree to an extent. I think most pros don't want to use the K90 because they want a racket which is more powerful and forgiving. I think most people use the K90 because of mental or psychological reasons, not reasons in which they feel will improve there game.

 

[BreakPoint]

The game being pretending to be Federer, not the game of tennis itself:wink:

If winning most of my matches is "pretending to be Federer" then you're right, since Federer wins most of his matches, too.

 

[vsbabolat]

Julia Vakulenko of the Ukraine uses the K6-1 Tour 90