So since no one else seems to have heard or seen this before... my impressions were that it was one of the first times he had hit with those frames. Not to say he never hit with them before, but they way he went about it and they way he and his coaches were comparing the frames to his old stick really felt like this was one of the first toe dips into the water.
Most of his hour long practice session was with his normal racquet and no sign of anything new. After about 45 minutes he went to his bag an pulled out what from what I could best tell was a Gravity Pro and Extreme Pro. I’m sure they are pro stock versions of the frames, but still it was shocking to see. He was on center court and I was right up front behind him on the baseline.
So here’s where it got curious...
He just finished hitting some serves with his old standby, pulls the other two out and then hit maybe 6-10 serves each with the Extreme and Gravity. There were some wildly missed serves. The new frames he was hitting much higher up in the stringbed. Neither one seemed to allow him more power, but he was getting more spin with the same speed. He was curious but very unsatisfied as he put them down right away and went back to his PT57A. Hit a few more serves and then tried the Gravity again for a few serves. He worked on some return of serve with the PT57A again, but then after about 10 minutes tried the gravity for a few returns... not good, spin caused quite a few to hit low in the net.
A couple of questions were asked and he replied with what I noted in my original post. I’m guessing he had the same string setup from what I could see, but he did not hit nearly as well with either like he did with his PT57A. My eyes and especially my ears could tell that, plus his almost instant disenchantment with both after just a few hits. He did seem to like the Gravity more and hardly touched the Extreme.
My guess is that he’s looking for more forgiveness... and just a touch more power/spin. I don’t think he’s completely put off as it could’ve been his first real hit with them, but even afterward he seemed curious... mostly with the Gravity. Murray still hits a beautiful ball with the PT57A, but I think it‘ll be very hard for him to find something that gives him the same confidence and familiarity. Fed struggled for a few years with RF97 before he got comfy with the change. It won’t happen this year, but I’m not sure he’ll be able to have the same confidence with a new stick in a short enough time to make it worthwhile this late in his career.
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