Obscure/unpopular frames used by pros

Thise vibration dampeners were donnay I think - basically just a piece of foam.
The Donnay Vibrazorb! Hated those; looked goofy.

It must be Prince's version, as you can see the "P" logo, if you zoom the second picture.

----

Her last GS with POG was Wimbledon 1990, where she lost in the QF. In her first Grand Slam with a Yonex racket (US Open 1990), her tournament ended in the third round. Still using this type of dampener. She won the Australian Open in 1991, with Yonex dampener between the strings.
 

kevin qmto

Hall of Fame
Bryan Shelton - Spalding (does the model really matter?)
Do you know circa when?

-edit- googled some pics. Looks like early 90s, and he used the very wide throated graphites. Maybe he even rocked The Assault. That would be cool as I own one of those.
 

Snaab

Semi-Pro
Do you know circa when?

-edit- googled some pics. Looks like early 90s, and he used the very wide throated graphites. Maybe he even rocked The Assault. That would be cool as I own one of those.
I presumed it was the Assault, but certainly not positive.
 

kevin qmto

Hall of Fame
I presumed it was the Assault, but certainly not positive.
I later found photos confirming it. In 1992 he was using prince, but in 93-94 he was using Spaldings. He might have used them longer but I haven’t found any photos from 1995 or later yet. Underrated frames for sure.
 
I later found photos confirming it. In 1992 he was using prince, but in 93-94 he was using Spaldings. He might have used them longer but I haven’t found any photos from 1995 or later yet. Underrated frames for sure.

1995 he played Snauwaert ATP Tour.

It looks like Spalding tried it in Sweden: 1989-1990 Jarryd and young Enqvist ----- E. II

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Derrick Rostagno: Head TXP Pro -------- Antelop

Rossignol fiberglass(?) monoshaft: Andres Gomez -------- Jo Durie 1980

Brenda Schultz: Adidas Delta Concept 1989 ------------ Adidas NTP 1991

Belinda Borneo: ROX PRO/SP.IN 1989
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
Brian Battistone:

battistone_brian640.jpg

pg-56-seeing-double-getty.jpg

And search for a video of his serve. It's well worth it.

Gripping pics..
 
1995 he played Snauwaert ATP Tour.

It looks like Spalding tried it in Sweden: 1989-1990 Jarryd and young Enqvist ----- E. II

-------

Derrick Rostagno: Head TXP Pro -------- Antelop

Rossignol fiberglass(?) monoshaft: Andres Gomez -------- Jo Durie 1980

Brenda Schultz: Adidas Delta Concept 1989 ------------ Adidas NTP 1991

Belinda Borneo: ROX PRO/SP.IN 1989

Becker saves match point with net cord help against Rostagno in the second round and later wins the tournament (1989 US Open):


Michael Stich wins point with net cord help at 3-5, 30-all in fifth set against Volkov in the fourth round and later wins the tournament (1991 Wimbledon): video from this article


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Puma with nylon throat: David Felgate ------------- Jeremy Bates (Puma Red) 1986

Jeremy Bates:

Dunlop Max 200G 1984 -------------

Wilson Pro Staff 6.0 95(?) 1987 ------- II ----------- III

Puma Davis Cup Competition 1990

Fischer Superform Tuning: Nathalie Herreman 1986 ------------- Jan Gunnarson 1986
 
Yeah man ! The snaw Mc 1 played nothing like the deep buttery flex of the max 200 6 original.,too bad too cuz we all LOVED the way it looked ! Super duper stealthy way ahead of its Time as far as aesthetics . Just like the forget equijet = classy and timeless .
 

BorgCash

Legend
Years ago I thought that Sanglier really "know" when he mentioned a long-gone Korean racquet brand, Esquire, if I remember correctly. Even many Koreans that play tennis don't know if there was such a brand. I am a South Korean by the way.
In this case you should know Korean brand Hanil, do you?
 

BorgCash

Legend
I heard those commonly had issues with the plastic throat bridge fracturing from stress. If that could happen from average Joe’s swinging it, I wonder how a pro could ever use one without it breaking in short order?
Many pros used metal racquets with plastic bridge. Those who i remember first were Tony Roche and John Marks - Dunlop, Wojciech Fibak and Roscoe Tanner (and he hit really heavy) - Head Professional, Pat Cash - Prince Magnesium Pro 90. Pat was the last pro who won GS tournament with metal racquet.
 
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BorgCash

Legend
Looking through that vast Lendl gallery, I’m fascinated how Lendl started his career looking pretty cool style wise. Especially those publicity photos in a suit. But gradually looked more and more dorky as his career went on. By 1990 on, his kit was just peak-uncool. Those mizuno shirts with the Eagle on them… or those hats he wore with the flap on the back. Oh god, I’d rather play in a tutu than be seen in one of those.
Your mention about hat remind me that some pros used to wear panama hats at AO, John Marks and Rod Laver. Laver even put inside some plant leaves to help with heat.
 

BorgCash

Legend
why would Mac put a Snauwaert stencil on a Dunlop racket, did they even sponsor him, and did Dunlop ever dump him? Was it like when Muster painted a Head Prestige in Kneissel colors and tried to pretend it was one of their rackets even though it looked like nothing they ever made?
Check Martina's all blacked Max 200 G with Yonex strings stencil she played in 1987.
 

Seth

Legend
Jan Hajek (“who?”) used a Wilson Kobra Team FX.

The Championships - Wimbledon 2010: Day Two caption: LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 22: Jan Hajek of Czech Republic in action during the first round match against Andy Murray of Great Britain on Day Two of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 22, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) link: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/...-action-during-the-first-news-photo/102296625
 

coachrick

Hall of Fame
1995 he played Snauwaert ATP Tour.

It looks like Spalding tried it in Sweden: 1989-1990 Jarryd and young Enqvist ----- E. II

-------

Derrick Rostagno: Head TXP Pro -------- Antelop

Rossignol fiberglass(?) monoshaft: Andres Gomez -------- Jo Durie 1980

Brenda Schultz: Adidas Delta Concept 1989 ------------ Adidas NTP 1991

Belinda Borneo: ROX PRO/SP.IN 1989
Box sandwich construction a la HEAD Arthur Ashe series...most likely the RT
Used by Johan Kriek for a minute, also.
 

dje31

Professional
Tim Mayotte played briefly with the Rossignol F100, if memory serves, before moving to HEAD?

F100 was be basically a standard size F200. Slightly stiffer than the F200, but what wasn't?
 

retrowagen

Hall of Fame
It’s a standard +14% head size, so approximately 74 square inches. Mains were fairly short.

I believe also Andrei Chesnokov… or was it Cherkasov??? Used the model circa 1986 as well.
 

Grafil Injection

Hall of Fame
Unless this Kneissl is tiny, the centre 6 mains appear to be about 1-1.5 inches longer than a standard, so they would be equivalent to those on about a 85-95sqi racket. Which World Cup was it celebrating? Skiing I suppose?

Volkl-World-Cup-NS14-1.jpg
 

retrowagen

Hall of Fame
Unless this Kneissl is tiny, the centre 6 mains appear to be about 1-1.5 inches longer than a standard, so they would be equivalent to those on about a 85-95sqi racket. Which World Cup was it celebrating? Skiing I suppose?

Volkl-World-Cup-NS14-1.jpg
Voelkl (and Kneissl, another ski manufacturer who diversified into tennis) reused model names from their ski lines on their tennis lines.
World Cup, Servo, Impuls…
White Star, Red Star, Blue Star, World Star, Cup Star, Vario, etc.
 

michael valek

Hall of Fame
Those volkl yellow frames were absolutely crap I had some, different version ms24 I think and it was heavy, graphite which felt like iron and simply crap. I remember one nice backhand with it, but that was about it.
 

Grafil Injection

Hall of Fame
Voelkl (and Kneissl, another ski manufacturer who diversified into tennis) reused model names from their ski lines on their tennis lines.
World Cup, Servo, Impuls…
White Star, Red Star, Blue Star, World Star, Cup Star, Vario, etc.

We definitely need a Race-Tiger racket then!
 

michael valek

Hall of Fame
That’s what I thought at the time but soon realized they weren’t great. Believe it or not there were even volkl tennis shoes which were also yellowish and which I had but lasted about 2 weeks.
 

retrowagen

Hall of Fame
Voelkl made some attractive composite racquets, and had attractive eponymous lines of men’s and women’s clothing, shoes, and other accessories (bags) circa 1983-1986, and they even signed on as the official supplier of all of the above to the Soviet Davis and Federation Cup teams. The equipment was probably better than anything produced in the Soviet Union, but was sadly lacking performance to match the looks.

I believe they also sponsored a number of southern German pros (Hansjoerg Schwaier and Sylvia Hanika smong them) and, oddly, Mark Dickson (‘83 US Open Q’Finalist).

I was briefly courted by Voelkl as a junior in 1986, given some World Cup MS24 frames, and had a hit session with Sylvia Hanika (who was their marquee stalwart German pro and ambassador at the time). I couldn’t make the frames work for me; they were a little on the heavy side (I had been playing with the Kneissl White Star Pro Masters for a while, which was not a lightweight frame by any means, but didn’t feel like a shovel as the Voelkl did). The string bed also just had a dead feeling to it… not a cushioned, muted “dead” feel like the beforementioned Kneissl, but a hopeless, no power-and-can’t-find-any-sweetspot-whatsoever sort of weird feeling. I tried a few stringing solutions, but with no positive result. I gave up on the Voelkl and played for a season with the Max 200g, with which one could really crack a flat forehand, like that Kneissl.
 
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