Prince Tour 98 ESP (THE SAVAGE BANANA)
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Prince_Tour_98_ESP_Racquets/descpageRCPRINCE-PT98.html
First Impressions:
I enjoyed hitting the previous version of this racquet, the EXO3 Rebel 98, but felt it was missing that “something” to make it go from good to great. With the new 16x16 pattern offered, I figured it was worth a try. It came strung with Prince Premier Touch 16.
Groundstrokes:
The big ports on the 98 ESP gave the racquet a wonderful feel on ball contact, something I’ve really grown to like in the Prince racquets. I found the open pattern gave the 98 ESP more power than the Rebel 98 and keeping the ball deep in the court was much easier. Even with a multi, the open pattern really upped the spin (the Rebel 98 was a 16x20) and I felt like I could take a much bigger cut at the ball and it would still dip in, improving my new one-handed backhand quite a bit. The two downsides to the 98 ESP from the baseline were that slices tended to float and sit up on the bounce, and weak shots had a very fluttering, almost “airy” flight to them. Hit flush, topspin shots from both wings were great though.
Volleys:
The feel of this racquet with the open pattern was great, and if I had any complaint, it might be that it trended towards slightly soft, even for my tastes, but that’s a petty complaint. Feel was really good. I found directional control was good but not great however both power and touch, even with the open pattern, were very good. The absolute standout for the 98 ESP was on low and half volleys though, where the soft feel of the string bed made it seem as if I had extra time to think about what to do with the ball. The dwell time on the string was fantastic. As a serve-and-volleyer I play a lot of shots at my feet and those low volleys are important. The top of the sweet spot felt a little narrow though, something that after a little visual study made me think was due in part to what appears to be a slightly elongated head shape.
Serves:
The open ESP pattern really improved the spin of the racquet from the rebel 98 and I found slices out wide to the ad court to work much better than with the Rebel. I found control was good as long as I kept the swing speed up and let the open pattern and ball spin do the rest. When it came to pace though, I found the racquet to still be lacking. I wasn’t getting a lot of heat on the ball on serves up the T and the 98 ESP felt very head light.
Second serves were good though and the spin really helped the kicker jump off the court. Despite the lack of pace, I noticed my opponent was still playing relatively far back, letting the ball come down more into his strike zone for his return. As a serve-and-volleyer, this gave me one if not two extra steps into the net. While not really forcing the issue, spin serves definitely proved a good “setup” for the volley allowing me a much better position at the net.
Serve Returns:
The 98 ESP was an effective returner and felt very maneuverable. My chip/block return game was OK with it, finding good depth. The only problem was that slices tended to float and sat up a bit. When I had the chance to take a cut at the ball though, the 98 ESP was very good and the open pattern let me be more aggressive than I normally am.
Overall:
The feel of the 98 ESP was wonderful and picking up low and half-volleys was a true stand-out. The open pattern brought much more life to the frame than it had with the Rebel 98 and I felt like I could be more aggressive with it. The racquet felt soft enough I would have no worries putting a poly in the crosses to liven up the spin even more. The only downside was the lack of pace on serves, and I might try to fix that with some lead tape at the top of the hoop. If the prior version was nicknamed the Banana, the improved ESP version definitely deserves the Savage Banana title others have applied.