E.Gulbis´current Racket?

tennisfeld

New User
I wonder if anyone knows what the current Racket is.
He´s using a Wilson Steam 100 Paintjob, but the Steam has a different string pattern.
Could be a BLADE paintjob, cause the string pattern is 16/19.

Any clues?
 
Gulbis racket from 2012

This is my first post here, but it may help you guys out.

Here is a picture of his racket from the grass court season in 2012:

ErnestsGulbisRacket01.jpg


As you can see it carries the Wilson Steam 100 paint scheme, however it has a 16x19 string pattern.

Unfortunately this is the only picture of his racket that I took, and I didn't record any specs etc.

IIRC, the beam felt more box-like and had a smaller beam width than the stock Wilson Steam 100.

Hope this can be of help,

ProStringing
 
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I think the one he broke yesterday was foam filled (from the TV close-up so i'm 100% not sure).

Didn't he use a Head in the past? Dunno what he uses now that he is at Wilson.
 
Didn't he use a Head in the past? Dunno what he uses now that he is at Wilson.

Yes, here's a photo I found on the web from 2009:

ernests-gulbis-2009-10-7-3-40-19.jpg


You can see its an 18x20 Head (no idea if its an actual Prestige or a Pro Stock).

But then here he is using what looks like a Wilson Blade PJ in 2011, which also looks to be 18x20:

ernests-gulbis-2011-1-12-23-0-12.jpg
 
Back in June 2011, I received three of these rackets to string.

All three were different, one was an 18x20, another was a 16x19 and the third was a 16x18. All were in the Wilson BLX Blade 98 paint. The specs in the throat were all left blank, and the main string spacings in the 16x18 were very inconsistent.

In 2012, all the rackets that I strung for him were the same 16x19 pattern in the Wilson Steam 100 paint scheme as per my previous post.

ProStringing
 
This is my first post here, but it may help you guys out.

Here is a picture of his racket from the grass court season in 2012:

ErnestsGulbisRacket.jpg


As you can see it carries the Wilson Steam 100 paint scheme, however it has a 16x19 string pattern.

Unfortunately this is the only picture of his racket that I took, and I didn't record any specs etc.

IIRC, the beam felt more box-like and had a smaller beam width than the stock Wilson Steam 100.

Hope this can be of help,

ProStringing

Looks like Lux 4G
 
Looks like Lux 4G

It is not strung with Luxilon 4G.

All of Ernests's rackets were strung with Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power, at either 29/28 KGS or 28/27 KGS, depending on what time he was playing.

They were also strung one-piece.

ProStringing
 
hmm, but frame of racquethead and connection of throat to head looks exactly as my Rebels95 and Prestiges (rebel is a copy of prestige)
 
The bumper guard was definitely branded Wilson, which does not confirm or rule anything out; if it is a copy of another manufacturer's racket, then Wilson have had to make custom grommets as well.

ProStringing
 
It is not strung with Luxilon 4G.

All of Ernests's rackets were strung with Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power, at either 29/28 KGS or 28/27 KGS, depending on what time he was playing.

They were also strung one-piece.

ProStringing




Welcome to the board! Was that also strung bottom to top?
 
Sorry guys, but he is now using the Steam 99 (non-S) PJ.

Yes.

He is now using the Wilson Steam 99 paint scheme.

For the grass court season in 2012 he was using the Wilson Steam 100 paint scheme.

Hopefully in June I will get a chance to see his rackets for this year, and compare them to last year's.

Welcome to the board! Was that also strung bottom to top?

It was strung head to throat (top to bottom) as the mains finish at the head of the racket.

ProStringing
 
Welcome to the board! Was that also strung bottom to top?

A quick way to tell is to look at the # of holes at the throat, and compare to the string pattern:

6 holes at throat:
16 mains = finish at bottom​
18 mains = finish at top​

8 holes at throat:
16 mains = finish at top​
18 mains = finish at bottom​

You can see from the posted photo there are 16 mains, but 8 holes at the throat, so the mains finish at the top, which allows you to go one piece, top-bottom on the crosses w/o an 'ATW' pattern.
 
A quick way to tell is to look at the # of holes at the throat, and compare to the string pattern:

6 holes at throat:
16 mains = finish at bottom​
18 mains = finish at top​

8 holes at throat:
16 mains = finish at top​
18 mains = finish at bottom​

You can see from the posted photo there are 16 mains, but 8 holes at the throat, so the mains finish at the top, which allows you to go one piece, top-bottom on the crosses w/o an 'ATW' pattern.

Thanks for the tip!:):)
 
The steam would be the obvious choice for any former Head pt57 user as they play so similarly ;)
 
The steam would be the obvious choice for any former Head pt57 user as they play so similarly ;)

Now I've only played with a pt57 once so I don't have much experience, but I think you are being sarcastic considering how much I didn't really like the steam.
 
He isn't currently using a Steam 100 pj.

Maybe he has since switched to an actual steam 99, or maybe Wilson just really wanted to market 99's more than 100's. It could be an actual 99 though since as pervasive as pj's are, it's not an across the board thing like some people assume, especially for lower ranked players, which is what Gulbis was before he started playing well this year. And if he really is experimenting with new rackets, they may not want to bother with making pj's every time he switches to a new one.
 
Maybe he has since switched to an actual steam 99, or maybe Wilson just really wanted to market 99's more than 100's. It could be an actual 99 though since as pervasive as pj's are, it's not an across the board thing like some people assume, especially for lower ranked players, which is what Gulbis was before he started playing well this year. And if he really is experimenting with new rackets, they may not want to bother with making pj's every time he switches to a new one.

He was higher ranked before he started partying.
 

I use and actual Steam 100 as one of my main sticks... It's 0.25 inch longer than a standard stick and has a 16 X 20 string pattern as opposed to what is in the photo of Gulbis' stick (I think 16 X 18 or 16 X 19). Also, the beam is not as boxy as the photo of Gulbis' stick seems to be (difficult to tell from a photo to be honest).

A Steam 100 is pretty light at 311 grams and 312 swing weight or so strung according to TW. He'd need quite a bit of lead and/or silicone to get the weight up and maintain a headlight balance overall.
 
I use and actual Steam 100 as one of my main sticks... It's 0.25 inch longer than a standard stick and has a 16 X 20 string pattern as opposed to what is in the photo of Gulbis' stick (I think 16 X 18 or 16 X 19). Also, the beam is not as boxy as the photo of Gulbis' stick seems to be (difficult to tell from a photo to be honest).

A Steam 100 is pretty light at 311 grams and 312 swing weight or so strung according to TW. He'd need quite a bit of lead and/or silicone to get the weight up and maintain a headlight balance overall.

I brought his frame to him from the stringer and it felt heavier than that.
 
I got the info from Wilson, that it is not an officially Wilson Frame, just a Wilson Paintjob. Now we can speculate which frame-brand it is.
 
Back in June 2011, I received three of these rackets to string.

All three were different, one was an 18x20, another was a 16x19 and the third was a 16x18. All were in the Wilson BLX Blade 98 paint. The specs in the throat were all left blank, and the main string spacings in the 16x18 were very inconsistent

ProStringing
Partying, drinking and smoking up is understandable, but going crazy with the different patterns is out of this world. He is a real wild man!
 
This paintjob story is very Safinesque.
Why would he play with a prestige pro(Safin) when he could get an H22 with 16X19 string pattern:confused: no?
 
This paintjob story is very Safinesque.
Why would he play with a prestige pro(Safin) when he could get an H22 with 16X19 string pattern:confused: no?

I honestly tend to think he is using the H22 or H19 with a 16x19. That is Wilson's copy of the HEAD Prestige and they don't sell it to the public.
 
I got a broken racquet of his from DelRay. Its a Wilson Steam 99 (not S). Hes also got a bunch of weights glued inside the handle. The frame also seems heavier than normal but yes it is filled with foam. He also used full Luxilon ALU Power at 29kg mains 28kg crosses.
 
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