PHOTOS of FEDERER's personal PROSTAFF TOUR 90 from MAY 2003

[jimbo333]

Firstly I apologise for borrowing this image, it is the best one I could quickly find showing this. It shows Federer in Rome in May 2003, using the same racket as mine. Some, but not all, of Federer's rackets in Rome had small amounts of lead at 11 and 1 o'clock near the top of the hoop of the racket, one small lead strip on one side and one on the other, as can be seen below.

Incidently there is no lead tape actually under the bumper.

 

[フェデラー]

He didn't seem to use that much lead back then but now he uses a lot (as seen from the photos provided by P1). I'm curious as to what dictated the switch.

 

[jimbo333]

He didn't seem to use that much lead back then but now he uses a lot (as seen from the photos provided by P1). I'm curious as to what dictated the switch.

You are right in that the racket above has about 0.5g near the top, whereas his custom K90's sometimes had about 3g under the bumper (at least in some tournaments). But don't forget he was only using the exact racket above for one month (May 2003), it is different to his custom K90. Also all his rackets that year appeared to have had quite a lot of lead in the throat (the lead was removed from my racket, you can see the marks there, photo to follow).

 

[jimbo333]

It looks normal. Send me a email and ill send u the photos of that side view.

Hi, I sent you a message, but havn't heard back yet. It would be great to see a photo of the side view including the grommet channel please!

 

[jimbo333]

Here is a photo showing the outline of where the lead tape was in the throat, after it was removed. There was exactly 4" of 1/2 inch lead tape on both sides of the inside of the throat, so that would weigh a total of about 4g (0.5g x 8").

 

[jimbo333]

It looks normal. Send me a email and ill send u the photos of that side view.

Hi, really hope you send the photos of the grommet channel at some point, would be great to compare to mine.

Also thanks very much for measuring the weight and swingweight of your racket, could you please measure the balance point and post it here?

Really hope to hear back, thanks very much in advance.

 

[Ragamuffin]

 

[Ragamuffin]

 

[Ragamuffin]

 

[tennis_balla]

Not sure if this was sold only in Japan but it wouldn't surprise me if it was, since they also sold in Japan a PS 6.0 85 Original (NOT Hyper) with the PS Classic paintjob (without the Hyper graphics) that was slightly lighter than the standard PS 6.0 85 Original (I guess you can call it an "Asian version).

Its amazing how Wilson can come up with such amazing cosmetics like this but only for the Japanese market or they never are officially released but then end up selling some of the worst looking rackets to come out in a while to the rest of the world. Sick paintjob, one of the best looking rackets I've ever seen.

 

[corners]

Its amazing how Wilson can come up with such amazing cosmetics like this but only for the Japanese market or they never are officially released but then end up selling some of the worst looking rackets to come out in a while to the rest of the world. Sick paintjob, one of the best looking rackets I've ever seen.

Yeah, I think that's the best Wilson paintjob ever. They should use that as the next ProStaff paint job. Kicks butt over the bloody q-tip.

 

[tennis_balla]

haha bloody q-tip is a good nickname for them. The Wilson Blade looks pretty cool, all black with a bit of grey/silver but those 6.1's.....no comment.

 

[jimbo333]

Hi, thanks very much for posting these photos here, superb

These look exactly like the rackets Federer used between June 2003-May2004, they are different to mine that Federer used in May2003, as yours have the 4 string holes in the PWS, and the shorter grip.

Are they actually your rackets? Please tell us what you know about them.

 

[フェデラー]

Its amazing how Wilson can come up with such amazing cosmetics like this but only for the Japanese market or they never are officially released but then end up selling some of the worst looking rackets to come out in a while to the rest of the world. Sick paintjob, one of the best looking rackets I've ever seen.

I just checked Wilson Japan's website. They sell many many more rackets than in the US. Steam Pro 95 (Nishikori's real racket), Steam 95, different juice 100 and 100L paint jobs, blade 101L, etc. Plus they get the Nishikori pro stock every new generation (k factor, blx, and steam pro). They also sell Kei's Premier Choice (which is same as Federer's champion's choice except with 4G instead of ALU Rough.)

 

[Ragamuffin]

Hi, thanks very much for posting these photos here, superb

These look exactly like the rackets Federer used between June 2003-May2004, they are different to mine that Federer used in May2003, as yours have the 4 string holes in the PWS, and the shorter grip.

Are they actually your rackets? Please tell us what you know about them.

Hi Jimbo, thanks to you for starting this thread!

You are right, they are from Federer personal batch made for the period June 2003-May 2004.
They are uncustomized and never strung/used. No traces of lead in the throat or on the head.
If you pay attention you will notice that there is a little difference in length between the handles of the two frames even if they are all grip L3. One is similar to the handle of the K90/BLX90 the other is shorter and is more similar to the old PS 6.0 used during 1998-2001. Maybe Federer was testing different solutions at that time...

 

[tembolo1284]

This is an awesome thread!

 

[federer777]

Here is a photo of Roger Federer's personal Prostaff Tour 90 racket from May 2003. I will be doing some more photos in the next few weeks, I apologise for only having the one photo at the moment. It was thought that Federer was using the retail version of the Prostaff Tour 90 during this time, but it was actually a customized personal Federer racket, only with the same mold/string pattern and strangely the same long grip as the retail version.

This custom racket has his printed signature on one side, it has no rough grey paint around the edges of the grommet channel around the hoop (the retail version has the rough paint), and has a Fairway leather grip. It has a small amount of lead tape at about 11 and 1 o'clock on the hoop, and there are marks inside the throat on both sides, indicating possibly quite large amount of lead tape has been removed (or maybe a couple of large stickers). It is a grip size 3, and the buttcap has no 3 letter code on it at all. By the way the racket does not have the original strings.

I've been looking into this racket for ages, and it has been difficult to find out information, but have now done extensive research. So finally decided to start a thread on this racket. This is the only one of these I've ever seen. Others have the later custom 90 from later in 2003, but not this earlier Spring 2003 version.

For the previous year i.e for most of 2002 up to and including March 2003. Federer was using a custom 90 racket with the HPS 6.0 paintjob (with yellow "w"'s, and with 4 string holes in the PWS). Federer was a major hope for Wilson and was getting personally made/customized rackets since the beginning of 2002. By then he was getting batches of rackets for each part of the tennis season (like he does now), early hardcourt, clay, grass, summer hardcourt, late season WTF etc.

In Spring 2003 Wilson decided to use the Prostaff Tour 90 paintjob on Federer's batch of rackets for the Spring 2003 clay court season. Strangely though rather than just putting the paintjob on his previous custom 90 racket (with 4 holes in PWS) he had been using for the last 12 months, they made for him a new customized racket which replicated the retail version of the Prostaff Tour 90 in looks almost exactly.

So Federer's Spring 2003 racket had the same mold, same string pattern (with 5 holes in the PWS), and most strange of all the same long grip as the retail version of the Prostaff Tour 90 racket, only with Federer's printed signature on one side on his custom frames, and no rough grey paint surrounding the grommet channel (the retail version has the rough grey paint). I don't know why they replicated the retail version so closely? Maybe Federer liked the feeling of the new retail version itself, when testing new customized rackets, and wanted something similar? Or maybe Wilson wanted his frame, in looks at least, to be as similar as possible to the retail version? I would like to know the reason for this if anybody actually knows please?

Anyway Federer used this racket for the whole of the Spring 2003 clay court season it seems. He used these for the whole of May, starting in Munich where he actually won, and then in Rome where he reached the final, but then he only reached the 3rd round in Hamburg, and then got knocked out of the 1st round at the French Open. That was the last time he used these rackets, as he then switched to his batch of rackets for the Grass court 2003 season, which had the Prostaff Tour 90 paintjob on his previous custom 90 frame (with 4 holes in the PWS, shorter grip), and used this racket type through until the Spring of 2004 (mid May), when he changed to the N90 paintjob. This custom version is still the basic same mold as the retail Prostaff Tour 90 (different holes pattern), which was the first retail racket to have the same basic mold (with different holes pattern) as his customized rackets. Obviously the K90 in 2007 was the first time the exact mold and string/holes pattern (with 4 holes in the PWS) of his custom 90 racket was released as a retail racket. I hope this all makes sense.

If anybody has anymore information about this racket, please let me know.



Interesting threads for reference regarding Federer racket specs:-

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=101074
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=246366
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=347886
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=450504

Especially how his fully modified/leaded/strung/with overgrip etc weight varies over the years from about 372-362g but Swingweight is always about 350 it seems.

But I find some Wilson Hyper Pro Staff 6.0 90 with 5 cross used by Federer in 2002, thanks!

 

[RFRF]

Here is a photo of Roger Federer's personal Prostaff Tour 90 racket from May 2003. I will be doing some more photos in the next few weeks, I apologise for only having the one photo at the moment. It was thought that Federer was using the retail version of the Prostaff Tour 90 during this time, but it was actually a customized personal Federer racket, only with the same mold/string pattern and strangely the same long grip as the retail version.

This custom racket has his printed signature on one side, it has no rough grey paint around the edges of the grommet channel around the hoop (the retail version has the rough paint), and has a Fairway leather grip. It has a small amount of lead tape at about 11 and 1 o'clock on the hoop, and there are marks inside the throat on both sides, indicating possibly quite large amount of lead tape has been removed (or maybe a couple of large stickers). It is a grip size 3, and the buttcap has no 3 letter code on it at all. By the way the racket does not have the original strings.

I've been looking into this racket for ages, and it has been difficult to find out information, but have now done extensive research. So finally decided to start a thread on this racket. This is the only one of these I've ever seen. Others have the later custom 90 from later in 2003, but not this earlier Spring 2003 version.

For the previous year i.e for most of 2002 up to and including March 2003. Federer was using a custom 90 racket with the HPS 6.0 paintjob (with yellow "w"'s, and with 4 string holes in the PWS). Federer was a major hope for Wilson and was getting personally made/customized rackets since the beginning of 2002. By then he was getting batches of rackets for each part of the tennis season (like he does now), early hardcourt, clay, grass, summer hardcourt, late season WTF etc.

In Spring 2003 Wilson decided to use the Prostaff Tour 90 paintjob on Federer's batch of rackets for the Spring 2003 clay court season. Strangely though rather than just putting the paintjob on his previous custom 90 racket (with 4 holes in PWS) he had been using for the last 12 months, they made for him a new customized racket which replicated the retail version of the Prostaff Tour 90 in looks almost exactly.

So Federer's Spring 2003 racket had the same mold, same string pattern (with 5 holes in the PWS), and most strange of all the same long grip as the retail version of the Prostaff Tour 90 racket, only with Federer's printed signature on one side on his custom frames, and no rough grey paint surrounding the grommet channel (the retail version has the rough grey paint). I don't know why they replicated the retail version so closely? Maybe Federer liked the feeling of the new retail version itself, when testing new customized rackets, and wanted something similar? Or maybe Wilson wanted his frame, in looks at least, to be as similar as possible to the retail version? I would like to know the reason for this if anybody actually knows please?

Anyway Federer used this racket for the whole of the Spring 2003 clay court season it seems. He used these for the whole of May, starting in Munich where he actually won, and then in Rome where he reached the final, but then he only reached the 3rd round in Hamburg, and then got knocked out of the 1st round at the French Open. That was the last time he used these rackets, as he then switched to his batch of rackets for the Grass court 2003 season, which had the Prostaff Tour 90 paintjob on his previous custom 90 frame (with 4 holes in the PWS, shorter grip), and used this racket type through until the Spring of 2004 (mid May), when he changed to the N90 paintjob. This custom version is still the basic same mold as the retail Prostaff Tour 90 (different holes pattern), which was the first retail racket to have the same basic mold (with different holes pattern) as his customized rackets. Obviously the K90 in 2007 was the first time the exact mold and string/holes pattern (with 4 holes in the PWS) of his custom 90 racket was released as a retail racket. I hope this all makes sense.

If anybody has anymore information about this racket, please let me know.



Interesting threads for reference regarding Federer racket specs:-

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=101074
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=246366
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=347886
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=450504

Especially how his fully modified/leaded/strung/with overgrip etc weight varies over the years from about 372-362g but Swingweight is always about 350 it seems.

I have the real thing if u would like more information