Racquet Received - DUNLOP SRIXON CX Tour 16 x19
TENNIS EXPERIENCE / BACKGROUND - Self taught. currently 4.5 league and tournament level player. Grew up playing multiple sports but mostly baseball. I have accumulated decades of tennis playing experience. Spectate for about 50 days of pro tennis including ATP, WTA, USTA Circuits, and WTT, each year.
DESCRIBE PLAYING STYLE - Solid 4.5 singles and doubles, one-hand off both sides, flat fastball first serve (s/b no surprise there) with a wicked yet effectively inconsistent kicker for a second serve. All court player that can rally, chip and charge, and serve / volley on offense, and be an all-court defender that loves to attack and dominate at the net.
CURRENT RACQUET/STRING SETUPS - The current racquet and go-to racquet of choice for a good while now is the Dunlop Aerogel 4D 200 Tour 95 with a 16 x 18 string pattern. It is just an old-school, firm, thin-beam, all-around players frame. It is the type of frame that it seems more tour players are using again. The regular string setup is a full set of Dunlop Black Widow 17 gauge, strung 50 lbs x 50 lbs.
STRING AND TENSION USED FOR TEST - Started out with the Dunlop Silk that came strung in the frame. Then, I strung the CX Tour frame with my familiar Dunlop Black Widow 17 in order to match my normal setup for a more consistent, comparison sake. The frame was played at tensions first 50, then 52 pounds with Black Widow string.
NUMBER OF HOURS PLAYED WITH THE RACQUET - I managed to wait out the smoke from wildfires and work around rainy/wet conditions to get in plenty of hitting on hardcourts both indoors and outdoors for this playtest. During the test, I played with the Dunlop Silk string that came in the frame for about six hours. Then, I strung Black Widow at two different tensions and played for over ten hours with each tension.
COMMENTS ON RACQUET PERFORMANCE:
GROUNDSTROKES - Overall, groundstrokes are really pretty nice with this frame. Very consistent. The lighter weight frame did take some time for me to get used to. The light weight actually helped improve my strokes by forcing me to take a shorter backswing, and make a faster stroke and extend through the hitting area. That is something that I have been trying to get myself to do more consistently for a while now.
Overall, this frame is relatively low powered. There is power to be had in this frame, but most of it is going to come from the racquet head speed rather than frame bulk and / or stiffness. The light weight allows the frame goes through the air very fast. Even with the light weight, there is plenty of head stability so the frame does supply some plow through on every stroke.
The light weight and the open string pattern and the Black Widow strings makes this frame setup quite accessible to spin. My opponents did not notice any reduction in my topspin off of either side, or at all throughout play.
This frame gives up pinpoint control. You have to work a little to get power and pace, but the ball will go where you want with the depth that you want. My opponent's court seemed to be a little wider because the amount of control makes it easy to get great angles even from the center of the court.
SERVES - Pace on my first serve suffered just a bit with this frame. The lighter frame goes faster through the air but the lower power but made me lose a foot or so on my first serve. Still, the excellent control that comes with this frame makes it an effective serving weapon. There is plenty of spin available with this racquet and string on slice and kick serves. There was plenty of movement on the ball flight of slice serves and excellent jump off of the court on kick serves. Even with the reduction in raw power, the pinpoint accuracy makes this frame quite fun to serve with.
VOLLEYS - Loving volleys with this racquet. This frame is really a volleying machine. The light weight of the frame makes this racquet lightning quick at the net. I found it to have plenty of comfort and accuracy on touch, and on drop volleys. It is also easy to get some pop on drive volleys with excellent control on depth.
SERVE RETURNS - The low power aspect of this frame is most noticeable on service returns. On returns where I did not get the opportunity to get my feet set and take a full swing I was just a little underpowered. Some of the lack of power was offset by the pinpoint control. It was interesting watching some slow-motion, yet very accurate, returns going past serve-and-volleyers! I think that serve returns will be helped a lot much with addition of some weight in the head.
GENERAL REACTION/COMMENTS OF OVERALL PERFORMANCE - I played this entire playtest with the racquet in stock form mostly because I wanted to feel the factory form. It took a little time for me to get accustomed to the light weight. For me, the stock weight seems to be toward the low end of what is playable for me.
Overall, this is a very, very nice frame. It is stays comfortable on all shots and even after long periods of play. It is on par with the current trend of lighter weight, "Tour" molds. It plays consistently, it does everything well, and it will work for all levels of players with different types of games. It is comfortable and can be easily modified to personal preference using different strings, tensions, and weight if preferred.
I can't see any weakness in this frame. It is comfortable. If offers pinpoint control. The 16 x 19 string pattern makes it accessible to plenty of spin. Because of the stock balance of the frame, it seems like it will be easy for any player to customize, or modify to their preference.
In the upcoming weeks, I am planning to continue to play and test this frame with some different perimeter weighting and different string tensions. Once I get that dialed in to my preference, I will also try the Dunlop NT strings that came with the package.
I also really like the racquet cover that comes with the frame. It can be used as a cover, or as a large cinch backpack, or even as a carry bag for extra clothes, food, or gear. I love the uniqueness and quality. Very Next Gen!
Thank you Tennis Warehouse and Bravo Dunlop Srixon for the play test and for making a very fine frame.
Ditto with the serve being the best - and to me most important - gauge of racquet suitability; comparing serve results eliminates a lot of variables.
