Dunlop ATP vs Penn ATP balls

[SystemicAnomaly]

Interested in primarily the Extra Duty (XD) versions of these, not the SD versions. I've not yet had a chance to use the newer Dunlop ATP balls. Have been a long time fan of Penn ATP ball and believe that the new Penn Tour ball is just a rebranding of this.

So how does the new Dunlop ATP (XD) ball compare to the Penn ATP (XD) ball that it replaces on the men's tour? And how does Dunlop's new ball compare to their Grand Prix XD ball or their Fort (All Court) ball? More interested in a comparison to the Grand Prix since the Fort is not that common around here (and I've not used them very much at all).


CAVEAT: Let's not confuse the new Dunlop ATP ball with their rebranded Dunlop (ATP) Championship ball. Their decision to use similar names and packaging is confusing and regrettable. I'm not really a fan of rec/club Championship balls from Dunlop, Penn (popular here) or Wilson (worst of the 3).

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Head ATP = Penn ATP = Head Tour = Penn Tour

Sorry, I had forgotten that Penn balls are sold as Head outside of North America.

 

[red rook]

I bought a case of the penn tours a month or two ago. And before that a case of us opens.

The penn tours are lighter and faster. Not quite as light and fast as the ProPenn’s but are in that direction. They are the best value for a premium ball in my opinion. The us opens are a little harder and slower, but more controllable. They fluff up a little more than the penn tours but both of the balls’ playability remain intact for a couple hours and can be used for serve practice the next day.

I would like to try the Dunlop ATP’s. They seem interesting.

 

[1HBHfanatic]

not long ago, my favorite ball was the penn atp, at that time there were these 3 types, with the "regular" and "atp" having clay court versions of both

penn-regular
penn-atp
penn-marathon

at that time, dunlop was around, but it sucked,,
the can lids would pop before you got them, and it would fluff too fast!! i gave up on them then, looks like is still the same, just different packaging and name

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

not long ago, my favorite ball was the penn atp, at that time there were these 3 types, with the "regular" and "atp" having clay court versions of both

penn-regular
penn-atp
penn-marathon

at that time, dunlop was around, but it sucked,,
the can lids would pop before you got them, and it would fluff too fast!! i gave up on them then, looks like is still the same, just different packaging and name

By "regular" Penn (or Head) are you referring to the Penn Championship balls? The Championship balls from Penn (Head), Dunlop and Wilson are not considered premium balls. They are supposed to be medium-high quality club or rec balls. Penn might be the best of these 3 and Wilson, the worst.

Are you referring to the Dunlop Championship balls? I didn't use this ball very much but I was a huge fan of the Dunlop Grand Prix balls (extra duty) for hard courts. I believe that Dunlop also made a clay-court ball for RG for quite a few years before it was replaced by Babolat. That was undoubtedly a premium ball as well.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

@1HBHfanatic

Note that the clay-court versions of the Penn Championship and Penn ATP ball were probably just standard duty (felt) versions of these. The extra duty versions are typically used on hard courts. However, the WTA might have been using the standard duty version (red label) of the Penn Championship balls for many of their events. Standard duty felt has less air drag than extra duty felt -- so they don't slow down quite as much when they fly through the air.

 

[1HBHfanatic]

@SystemicAnomaly yeah penn.championship, its their regular ball, which I use now, I use 1 match and it goes into the hooper for practice, no big monitary loss
the penn-atp balls, either red (clay-regularduty) or black(hardcourts-extraduty) lasted a whole lot more!!, 2 even 3 matches before I had to put them into the hooper

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

@SystemicAnomaly yeah penn.championship, its their regular ball, which I use now, I use 1 match and it goes into the hooper for practice, no big monitary loss
the penn-atp balls, either red (clay-regularduty) or black(hardcourts-extraduty) lasted a whole lot more!!, 2 even 3 matches before I had to put them into the hooper

I was never a huge fan of Penn Champs because they noticably lost internal pressure & bounce by the 2nd set of play. Furthermore, each and every can of balls contained one ball that was substandard to the other 2 balls. Sometimes it was a cosmetic reject, which was fine.

But more often, the odd ball did not bounce as high as the other two fresh out of the can. I would identify that odd ball and try to keep it out of circulation for the first set of play. But some of the other (doubles) players would sneak it into play. Usually by the second set, the 2 good balls would lose enough pressure so that they were all about the same.

Penn Champs where are normally softer (less firm) than other Championship brands. I believe that many Rec players like them for that reason. The only time that I really like them is when we played in very cold weather. Other tennis ball brands would feel like rocks in the cold. Penn Champs would be more tolerable in those conditions. It also helped to have some way to keep the balls warm in cold weather so that they would have a fairly decent bounce.

Overall, my favorite balls for hardcore play included the extra duty version of Prince Tour, Slazenger Wimbledon, Dunlop Grand Prix, Wilson US Open, and the old Penn ATP (now Penn Tour) balls.

 

[2nd Serve Ace]

Wanted to update this thread with my experience. Long story short, the dunlop atp xd is a very disappointing tennis ball. After 2 sets of play, it is basically like a kids pressureless training thing.

From a qc standpoint, these are the weights of the 3 ball can I just played with: 54 g, 57 g, 59 g! Just about every Penn atp ball I ever measured always checked in at a 57-58. The penns also had very balanced play for a good 4 sets.

I even find the current Wilson champs to be better made and nicer performing than the Dunlop atp.

 

[socallefty]

I prefer the Penn Tour XD to the Dunlop ATP XD ball for slow outdoor hard courts - they are both of premium quality in terms of hardness, weight, lifetime etc. The Dunlop ball seems to take a while to fluff up and then it fluffs up so much after a couple of sets that it looks like a dog has been chewing on it. So, it feels like it is harder to impart spin early compared to the Penn Tour ball and then it becomes too heavy once it fluffs up too much. It becomes a bit harder to hit outright winners late in long matches with the Dunlop ATP ball compared to Penn Tour. Dunlop also sells an even more expensive AO XD ball that doesn’t fluff up as badly as the ATP ball - that’s a good ball, but it is more expensive than the Penn Tour which plays as well or better.

My personal favorite and the most used ball at our club is the ProPenn Marathon XD ball. It is very similar to the Penn Tour ball, but it seems to bounce slightly higher from the start and remains high-bouncing for slightly longer. I usually play all my singles matches with it especially in the cold seasons when all balls are lower-bouncing anyway. On hot days, the bounce of Penn Tour is perfectly OK and it is fine for doubles also at all times of the year. I like hitting a lot of topspin and I prefer higher-bouncing balls where the felt fluffs up slightly and takes spin well.

I know others with flat shots or a finesse game (slices, dropshits, lobs, change speeds often) who like softer balls that don’t bounce much or retain their bounce for long - they typically play with the lower-priced Championship balls from each brand or they bring regular duty premium balls to play on hard courts. If you are a counterpuncher, it is possible that you might prefer the high-fluff Dunlop ATP ball to the Penn Tour ball as it is harder for opponents to blast you off the court on slow hard courts. Pick the ball that works for your style and the surface you play on.

 

[Rosstour]

Well that sucks. I just bought a case of them bc they were in stock at TW and nothing else was. I guess there was a good reason for that...

 

[2nd Serve Ace]

Well that sucks. I just bought a case of them bc they were in stock at TW and nothing else was. I guess there was a good reason for that...

I would just park them for next summer, as they could be a decent hot weather ball.

@socallefty knows what I'm talking about. After 2 hrs, the D ATPs look like Fido has just gone to town on them! The lower priced W champs fair far better for the same amount of play.

I'm willing to entertain the idea that supply shortages do have something to do with the crap quality of balls currently available to buy.

 

[1HBHfanatic]

Wanted to update this thread with my experience. Long story short, the dunlop atp xd is a very disappointing tennis ball. After 2 sets of play, it is basically like a kids pressureless training thing.

From a qc standpoint, these are the weights of the 3 ball can I just played with: 54 g, 57 g, 59 g! Just about every Penn atp ball I ever measured always checked in at a 57-58. The penns also had very balanced play for a good 4 sets.

I even find the current Wilson champs to be better made and nicer performing than the Dunlop atp.

-yeah, dunlop is trying to get into the "BALL" game,, but they have a steep hill to climb against the BIG BOYS of "the BALL game" (wilson, PENN)
-but right now, with the availability/demand issues of other-brands/most-brands any ball will do!?!
-just dont pay too much for them

 

[OldManStan]

Penn ATP balls definitely feel better to hit with compared to Dunlop ATP. Dunlops get very fluffy after the first set and loses some of its bounce. The Penn ATP balls last the entire match and still have enough bounce for regular practice matches. Went through 2 cases of the Dunlop ATPs, so a lot of first hand experience with. Would I buy them (Dunlop) again? Probably not since they cost about the same as 2 Wilson Championships.

Wilson Triniti balls have definitely won me over for their durability on HC. Wilson’s marketing about the ball lasting 4x as long as regular balls holds true if not longer. I do wish the ink stayed on the ball longer however because it does get worn down after a 2 set match.

For official matches, 2 cans of Wilson Championship balls XD are perfectly fine.

Avoid Penn championships. They are absolutely garbage with their QC. Had so many cans where the balls would be dead out of the can. Seams were uneven from ball to ball. Looked more like the Walmart branded balls in terms of quality.

 

[1HBHfanatic]

Penn ATP balls definitely feel better to hit with compared to Dunlop ATP. Dunlops get very fluffy after the first set and loses some of its bounce. The Penn ATP balls last the entire match and still have enough bounce for regular practice matches. Went through 2 cases of the Dunlop ATPs, so a lot of first hand experience with. Would I buy them (Dunlop) again? Probably not since they cost about the same as 2 Wilson Championships.

Wilson Triniti balls have definitely won me over for their durability on HC. Wilson’s marketing about the ball lasting 4x as long as regular balls holds true if not longer. I do wish the ink stayed on the ball longer however because it does get worn down after a 2 set match.

For official matches, 2 cans of Wilson Championship balls XD are perfectly fine.

Avoid Penn championships. They are absolutely garbage with their QC. Had so many cans where the balls would be dead out of the can. Seams were uneven from ball to ball. Looked more like the Walmart branded balls in terms of quality.

-just though i post this for you and/or any other posters here
-recently i found out that the "ATP" is leased to different ball companies
-i first saw it as penn "ATP", then it went away and popped up as dunlop "ATP"
-the "penn ATP" which i liked also, is now called "penn TOUR"

-one other bit of info i heard from the wilson.rep
-the trinity ball is about to get an update!!
-i dont have details, i just know its coming soon
-since you mentioned it ^, i figured i share the info

-another good/great ball i've hit with its the babolat.GOLD
-GOLD is in big BOLD letters,
-there are some cheaper babolat.GOLD balls that are much like the penn.championship version of it

 

[antony]

Man, Penn Championship balls are absolute **** but Penn Tour is fantastic. Definitely better value than US Open XD. I think I prefer the quality too.