Gasquet Racquet 2012

G

greystar403

Rookie
Watching re-runs of Roger's cup. Saw Gasquet's racquet with a WHITE/TRANSLUCENT head guard.

Same Liquidmetal Instinct XL or something different?
 
The funny thing is that the leather grip is actually Babolat. Saw that while he was playing doubles at the USO, and was changing the Tournagrip of his racquet
 
I have no direct knowledge on the matter but it looks like he wraps the leather and Tournagrip multiple times around the butt of the racquet to make it larger which doesn't leave enough grip material to cover the entire pallet similar to Thomas Muster's racquets.

Notice the changes over the years:
a_gasquet_i.jpg


Richard-Gasquet-stuns-Andy-Roddick-to-reach-quarterfinals-of-BNP-Paribas-Open-59270.jpg


954962-richard-gasquet.jpg
 
Looks like the bare pallet for the top half of the grip handle. I wonder if there is a leather or base grip under the tournagrip...
 
As vsbabolat pointed out in another thread, it's the Liquidmetal Instinct Tour XL but, as of this year, without the Liquidmetal ridges.
 
Also, if Head is able to make translucent bumper guards and grommets for the old Instinct mold (PT161?), I wonder why they don't put them on Murray's PT57 since they have them for the YT IG Prestige Pro? From a marketing standpoint it would make sense since Head went through all the trouble of changing the the Radical Pro to the Radical MP mold with 16x19 pattern and then putting CAP grommets on it.
 
I just saw him play at the China Open the other night. I got some close up shots of his racket.

His racket definitely doesn't have ridges any more but the clear bumper does.

The top half of his pallet is bare and in one picture I can read the pallet. It's a TK57 L4.

He has 1/2 a leather grip. He uses a full length Tourna, but he wraps the end of the butt cap about 4-5 times to get the flare before he continues to wrap the rest of the grip (still stopping halfway, just like the 1/2 leather grip). So basically 1/2 of the overgrip is wrapped around the butt cap, and the other 1/2 covers the 1/2 leather grip.

Just a guess, but when he was changing his Tourna grip, I'm 99% sure he had a Head Finest Calfskin Grip under.

He racket also has his name printed in the throat.

I can load pictures and show them if anyone is interested.
 
Definitley looks like he is building up the buttcap with his grips instead of getting them modded. I like it. It probably makes the grips absorb a lot better too.
 
ace0001a said:
Also, if Head is able to make translucent bumper guards and grommets for the old Instinct mold (PT161?), I wonder why they don't put them on Murray's PT57 since they have them for the YT IG Prestige Pro? From a marketing standpoint it would make sense since Head went through all the trouble of changing the the Radical Pro to the Radical MP mold with 16x19 pattern and then putting CAP grommets on it.
Click to expand...

It's because Murray does not want use the Clear grommets. Tommy Haas is the same way. He wont use the clear grommets either.
 
vsbabolat said:
It's because Murray does not want use the Clear grommets. Tommy Haas is the same way. He wont use the clear grommets either.
Click to expand...

VS is right of course.

I also got some close ups of Haas' setup. Looks like PT57a's (18x20) with IG paint, but classic black caps. Looks nice. At one point he threw a racket and it landed just in front of where I was sitting (front row, about 7' off the court). I was trying to imagine how I could reach his racket before he had time to come pick it up. :)

I'll work on cropping and posting the Gasquet pictures in the next few minutes. I'm sure it's nothing new or amazing, but at least some people can get a look.
 
You can easily see LM ridges in grommet bumper, but not on racket
i-pPpm5Ng-L.jpg

He's spinning the racket here, and it's night, so there is some blur, but you can see his name in the throat and see hints of lead under the bumper
i-VTP9FjZ-L.jpg


i-NTcQxKF-L.jpg

I was a little wrong about the grip. The leather grip is also wrapped a few times on the butt cap, so it already has some extra flare, and then the Tourna grip is wrapped around a the butt cap a few extra times to make the flare bigger. When I zoom in on this, I can also clearly see the shiny "HEAD" that they use on their Finest Calfskin grips, so I'm 99% sure that's what it is.
i-zz7Wj3L-L.jpg
 
Last edited:
I can zoom in even more here, but you can see the pallet says "TK57 4"
i-mvwW4xv-L.jpg


i-896wkmD-L.jpg

In these, I can easily see that there aren't any LM ridges any more, but the new clear caps still have LM ridges molded in:
i-LXnkJ5b-L.jpg


i-dvXSBn9-L.jpg
 
And the head shape is clearly not "lolly popish" like the Extremes.

And about his grip set up..
If you look at it close, the shape is the "coke bottle" approach.
Fat, skinny, Fat...
Just like the Babolat Contour grips that you can buy...
 
A_Instead said:
And the head shape is clearly not "lolly popish" like the Extremes.

And about his grip set up..
If you look at it close, the shape is the "coke bottle" approach.
Fat, skinny, Fat...
Just like the Babolat Contour grips that you can buy...
Click to expand...

It's pro stock Instinct.

His grip is uneven probably due to non uniform wrapping (both leather grip and Tourna). I don't think the pallet underneath is shaped.
 
I could be wrong, but it appears to me he wraps the leather grip over itself a few times at the bottom of the grip to create the 'knob' and as the knob has gotten bigger his grip covers less of the handle. I've seen him play and change the Tourna-grip at every change over.
 
I'm gonna give this a shot on an old Microgel Prestige MP and see how it plays.

On a side note I am amazed by how long that little tuft of hair in the front has survived.

6a00d83451bf7069e20134866d0b4f970c-800wi
 
I've always strung his rqt 1 piece (2 knots). Crosses go from top to bottom so no real need to string 2 piece.

Regards

Paul
 
I feel somewhat silly posting this in Pro's Racquets and Gear but I did try it out on my Flexpoint Tour and if you like holding the racquet low it works fantastic. I really like it on the serve. Felt really secure and I felt like I could let the racquet head lag and really pull from the handle.

That said I won't be switching over permanently. It was just a fun experiment.

IMG_0245.jpg
 
Certainly is interesting that he's choosing to not wrap any higher than that..

curious, the pallets he's using, are they like the traditional head pallets or more similar to a wilson shape? I know the speeds come with a more square pallet, but my MG extremes come with the more traditional head pallet.

Just wondering in case I decide to get the more square ones.. if this is what they're in fact called.

Also.. why are the pallets on his and the radical tour previously posted grey? mine are black.. different composition perhaps?
 
Cup8489 said:
Certainly is interesting that he's choosing to not wrap any higher than that..

curious, the pallets he's using, are they like the traditional head pallets or more similar to a wilson shape? I know the speeds come with a more square pallet, but my MG extremes come with the more traditional head pallet.

Just wondering in case I decide to get the more square ones.. if this is what they're in fact called.

Also.. why are the pallets on his and the radical tour previously posted grey? mine are black.. different composition perhaps?
Click to expand...
Head altered the shape, and color of pallets on their newer rackets. Or it at least feels that way to me.
 
greystar403 said:
I found that Tourna never makes it all the way on my IG Extreme Pro. It always makes it on my brother's Prestige though...
Click to expand...

The extremes have longer handles than the prestiges and the radicals. I can get a full tourna xl all the way to the top on my 4 1/2 handle MG Radical, but not even close with my 4 3/8 extremes.
 
I have a question about the Flexpoint Radical Tour I was fooling around on. I just popped open the butt cap and there is silicone inside and I just noticed the butt cap says 5 1/8. Is that normal? I'm sure it's nothing but the silicone inside surprised me and might explain why these are still the most solid racquets I've ever hit.
 
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