Azzurri
Legend
I think he meant when people think of the PS 85, they think of Pete. He alon brought the SV myth. When I say people, I mean the typical tennis player/fan.
Sampras working with Wilson on new players racquet...
- Thread starter JRProstaf9
- Start date
I think he meant when people think of the PS 85, they think of Pete. He alon brought the SV myth. When I say people, I mean the typical tennis player/fan.
Azzurri
Legend
There are many good reasons. First off, the PS 85 may be the most popular racquet since the end of the wood era racquets. While it was played with pre-Pete, he made it way more famous than Evert, Edberg and Courier (someone mentioned Connors..sorry, but Connors played it like a month. He had nothing to do w/this racquet except make a few extra bucks playing it, since he was a greedy player and could not play it he ditched it.). The legend has grown beyond Wilson Sports dreams because of the GOAT. When the GOAT plays one racquet for his entire career and now wants to market and help prodiuce a bigger version, then I totally get why Wilson would work with Pete. He lends the racquet much, much more credibility than Roger Federer does. Roger PJ's his racquets and we don't know what he even uses. Everyone knows Pete used an off the shelf racquet. The same racquets Pete used are the same in my closet. But not so w/Fed. If Pete markets it, its a racquet Pete actually plays with..he just adds a touch of lead tape.
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samprasbackhand
Semi-Pro
I don't care if they're making a new one, I'm not buying it. I want another PS85
Bingo. more chars
Gasquetrules
Semi-Pro
What did Sampras use in the exhibition at Madison?
I just assumed that Sampras was playing with the Pro Staff 6.0 in his recent match with Fed. It was mid-size; it was grayish-black. It looked like what Sampras had played with on the tour. I just figured he had gotten his game together well enough that he wanted his original stick... but he did have a lot of lead tape on it.
I think Sampras should play Queens or Nottingham. If he wins some matches, ask for a spot in the Wimbledon draw.
I was actually most excieted to see Ivan Lendl at the Sampras-Federer exhibition. Yeah, he's heavier now and doesn't play tennis anymore, but he dominated men's tennis for ten years during one of its most exciting and competitive eras. I think he won like five Masters finals in New York. Far more than Man or anyone else.
When I think of the Pro Staff 6.0, I associate it with Edberg and Courier as much as with Sampras.
... Krickstein also played with it, but that's something only knowlegeable tennis buffs would know or remember.
I just assumed that Sampras was playing with the Pro Staff 6.0 in his recent match with Fed. It was mid-size; it was grayish-black. It looked like what Sampras had played with on the tour. I just figured he had gotten his game together well enough that he wanted his original stick... but he did have a lot of lead tape on it.
I think Sampras should play Queens or Nottingham. If he wins some matches, ask for a spot in the Wimbledon draw.
I was actually most excieted to see Ivan Lendl at the Sampras-Federer exhibition. Yeah, he's heavier now and doesn't play tennis anymore, but he dominated men's tennis for ten years during one of its most exciting and competitive eras. I think he won like five Masters finals in New York. Far more than Man or anyone else.
When I think of the Pro Staff 6.0, I associate it with Edberg and Courier as much as with Sampras.
... Krickstein also played with it, but that's something only knowlegeable tennis buffs would know or remember.
stormholloway
Legend
Krickstein is the only guy who still uses the 85 it seems.
Lendl
Semi-Pro
Agree, his name is plenty mainstream and the racket will sell just fine even if he is retired
Azzurri
Legend
Where to begin...
The racquet Pete played was NOT the 85. Thye string pattern was 16X19. And if it was the 85, why would he black it out? What purpose? You "figured" completely wrong. You really should read the posts on the thread and look at the pics instead of a full blown assumption.
Sampras is retired. How many times does he need to say it? Its obvious you rarely pay attention to current tennis events. Why you are on a forum and blather about things you know NOTHING about is ridiculous. Educate yourself...please!
As for the association..good for you. You associate the PS 85 with the likes of Coiurier, Edberg as much as Pete. Again, you are very clueless. The AVERAGE, SEMI-INTERESTED, TYPICAL FAN of tennis over the past 20 years will associate the PS 85 with PETE SAMPRAS. How manhy pics are out there with Courier or Edberg playing the PS 85...not many. The average fan does NOT associate Edberg and Courier with the PS 85.
LOL..Krickstein???? You really show how little you know. KRICKSTEIN played the Ultra 2 doing his heyday. NOT the PS 85. A knowledgable fan would know that. Aaron plays the PS 85 on the Senior Tour and no one pays attention to him regardless. Your last sentence sums up uour "knowledge" of the PS 85..GREAT JOB!!!!
hoodjem
G.O.A.T.
I played with a Wilson Kramer Pro Staff woodie until 1985 or so, and it had nothing to do with Jack Kramer.
It had everything to do with the way the racquet felt and played. A few years later I was playing with a PS 6.0 85, and loved it even more. And it had nothing to do with Edberg, Courier, or Sampras (who had not even made a dent on the pro scene then).
It had everything to do with the way the racquet felt and played. A few years later I was playing with a PS 6.0 85, and loved it even more. And it had nothing to do with Edberg, Courier, or Sampras (who had not even made a dent on the pro scene then).
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JamaicanYoute
Rookie
master_stringer_mitchy
Banned
The thing i dont get is that wilson have the k 6.1 tour, still loads of the n6.1 tour around and now the kblade tour. is there room for another racket of that kind of spec? the shop i work at sold a good number of k6.1 tours, now the blade is moving. what im getting at is, it will make the hole paint job thing look even more fake to the average person. i guess if this is a new racket, tsonga and and other tour players will be "using it", that would mean some players would be on there 3rd pj in 18 months. being honest thou, looking at the pics of it, just looks like a slightly chunkyer 6.1 tour
jackcrawford
Professional
Just wait a couple of months after its release and you will be able to buy it for $50 at the big box sporting good chains just like the Agassi commemorative - especially with Federer, who Pete is now chained to marketing wise, in full free fall.
master_stringer_mitchy
Banned
good point, i agree. if it is a signiture frame, only the six one tour and pd roddick have stayed in the last few years
obnoxious2
Semi-Pro
Man I hope they release it soon. I was thinking of switching to the new ksix-one 95 after using my friends nsix-one 95 which was awesome to hit with. But after reading many bad reviews of the ksix-one I think I will wait and see how they racquet does.
Fedace
Banned
I hear that K-surge is a great racket, it is similar in power level to K6-1.
obnoxious2
Semi-Pro
Took a look at the specs but I prefer a slightly smaller head and headlight instead of head heavy.
Um, no. Krickstein played the Ultra 2 till 85, switched to the PS85, played it for a while, dinked around with some other frames, including Yonex, but was playing the PS85 in his most famous match, the 91 5-setter against Connors.
Azzurri
Legend
Still not sure about that. He used a Yonex in 1988 USO. He used the Ultra and Ultra 2 for many years. I had those racquets. I had a Krickstein print and it was him using the Ultra 2. I realize he switched around..alot, but he was known for using the Ultra 2..maybe heyday was the wrong word. Using AK as an example to justify the PS 85 as a great racquet was just a little too much. That guy went through so many racquets, but he is best known to wield the Ultra 2..that's all I meant. I do remember he used a PS 85..vaguely.
What was he using in 1993...it is not a PS 85. Check the time at 3:10 and look at the throat, not a PS 85.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O15VrvTaJDY
Check this site:
http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/S...rl=1&family=editorial&phrase=Aaron Krickstein
Look at the images at the bottom labeled March 88, September 86 and March 86. That's clearly a PS85.
http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/S...rl=1&family=editorial&phrase=Aaron Krickstein
Look at the images at the bottom labeled March 88, September 86 and March 86. That's clearly a PS85.
Jackie T. Stephens
Professional
It looks the the K factor.
Just a heads up. Krickstein switched to the PS 85 BECAUSE of Sampras. That was in 1991.
JRProstaf9
Rookie
Your correct, Sampras (like agassi and federer) has a lifetime contract with wilson on rackets. And this isn't the first time that Pete has worked with wilson on the development of a new frame. Back before the NCodes and the KFactors the Prostaff tour 90 and tour 95s were supposably the next iteration of the Prostaff 6.0 which they were marketing as Pete's "new" racket... then obviously Pete opted to retire and when the NCodes came out Wilson chose Federer to be the new brand "champion" (mean how else do you explain a red and white color scheme). Although b/c of his game and penchant for familiarity Pete stayed with his trusty PS6.0 until he finnally started using the newer ncode during all of his exhibition matches.
I agree the liklihood of Pete comming back even just for wimby is very low to none... although I wouldn't put it past him to play in the "champions" bracket w/ the likes of Todd Martin, Jonny Mac, and company.
In terms of developing a new racket with wilson... I wouldn't be surprised if he was providing the company with his expert opinion. I mean c'mon who better to give an assessment of a new "players" frame than a guy who used to be so particular of his own rackets that he bought up a whole inventory of frames from the same manufacturing plant! Granted I don't think wilson will solely market it as THE Pete Sampras racket (after all we all associate Pete w/ the 6.0 as "his" frame) but I wouldn't be surprised if a new players frame or next version of the Prostaff 6.0/6.1 line was in the early stages of testing.
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
Sorry, but Sampras does not have a lifetime contract with Wilson. He barely had a contract with Wilson when he was on tour. They didn't pay him very much because he refused to switch to newer racquets or use a paintjob. They also didn't like him all that much because of this so they never offered Sampras a lifetime contract. There was even a lapse in his contract when he was on tour during which he played without the "W" logo on his strings.
AFAIK, only Federer, Agassi, and Sharapova have lifetime contracts with racquet companies (all 3 of them are also not opposed to using paintjobs).
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stormholloway
Legend
Well, apparently they've made amends. I'm really curious how this new racquet story pans out.
Any Wilson offering that is endorsed by Sampras won't need to be adopted by any pro players and can exist as a stand-alone racquet.
However, Wilson are no-longer willing to provide the PS 85 and PS 95 to shops like Tennis Warehouse because - I'm speculating here- it would be the direct competition to a new Sampras frame. No current pro players endorsed the PS85/95 and none carried that paintjob but it was able to sell due to its past history. I'm guessing that Wilson are hoping for the same thing with Sampras. However, I'm hoping they're only doing a limited production run and if the racquet doesn't achieve adequate average sales they'll reintroduce the PS85/95.
Krickstein was using the PS85 at the 1985 or 1986 US Open.
Azzurri
Legend
Thanks for the pics...its pretty clear then that AK was a racquet junkie. In 88 he played a Yonex too. I am surpised he was playing the PS in 86. I honsetly think he swithced back and forth until I guess 1986 (from the pics). But thanks for the info..
Azzurri
Legend
Looks like at least 1986..he had to have used the Ultra 2 in 85 then. I had these picture cards of him in the mid 80's when he was the next big American player and he was using the Ultra 2. He was or at least seemed to be the signature player of the Ultra 2. He used the Ultra prior. But he played so many racquets, that saying he was a PS user and giving credence to that is pretty poor, considering his history of switching racquets.
coolblue123
Hall of Fame
I didn't remember seeing a red W on Sampra's strings during the Fed/Samp match? I thought in order to be endorsed by any racquet company, they had to put the company's logo on the racquet?
RoddickistheMan
Professional
Sampras is Wilson, no need for a W
Azzurri
Legend
That may be, I don't remember. HOWEVER, he was using it in 91 because of Sampras. He said that he was practicing with Pete and picked up one of his racquets. He liked it so much, he borrowed some and started using them.
Yep. That's what he said after he beat Agassi in the first round. He seemed to borrow Sampras' serve for that match also!
Slapp:
Krickstein started with the Ultra, and switched to the Ultra 2 in late 83. He used that till 85, then went to the PS85, which he used till sometime in late 88, at which point he went to a Yonex. He used the Yonex all the way up to August 91. At the beginning of the 91 US Open, Krickstein got a chance to hit with Sampras' PS85 during practice sessions before his first round match against Agassi, and liked it so much he went back to the 85 and used Pete's lead tape setup.
I haven't found out how long he used the 85 after that. He switched again in sometime before 94, when he went to the yellow/black/orange PS 6.1. By the end of 94, he had switched again to a racquet that I can't figure out. There are photos of him on Getty using it at the 95 Australian, when he made a run to the semis before retiring against Agassi with an injury.
Azzurri
Legend
Thanks for the info. I knew he used the Ultra and Ultra 2 for many years. I just did not remember seeing him play with the PS 85 so early in the 80's. Thanks for the rest of the information..makes more sense now. The racquet he used in 1995 was the Yonex. Look at the Getty images again and find
pic#1290840. That is a Yonex.
stormholloway
Legend
Well this discussion has deteriorated significantly. I guess there's only so much to discuss about a black mystery racquet that won't be out for 6 months.
beedlejuice22
Semi-Pro
who ever said that it was going to be pete's signature racket or even named after him? sure he's working with wilson to create it but that says nothing about his future on the tour or whether it will even be named after him.
Somewhere in this mess he used a Red Prestige too.
VGP
Legend
......or ever.
