The Paintjob Thread

[DX_Psycho]

Ok, here's how it works. people can list pro players and what paintjob they have and what racquet you think they really have. i'll keep updating the list. this is done because it is always asked what the real racquet under the paintjob is and the paintjobs are always changing, but never the real racquets. also list players that are really using the racquets they appear to be using and what racquet that is. i hope this thread works out.

sounds simple right? ok! go ahead and start. i'll keep bumping this topic so even if no one posts i won't let it die. remember that this thread is pure speculation so hell, we might be wrong, but who really cares? it's just for giggles. using what the pro's use won't make you play any better but it's always nice to know.

i'll start it off.

Male

Name: Andre Agassi | PJ Racquet: Head Flexpoint Radical | Real Racquet: Donnay Pro 1
Name: Gustavo GUGA Kuerten | PJ Racquet: Head Liquidmetal Prestige Mid | Real Racquet: Head Pro Tour 280
Name: Lleyton Hewitt | PJ Racquet: Yonex RDX 500 mid | Real Racquet: Yonex Super RD Tour 90
Name: Marat Safin | PJ Racquet: Head Liquidmetal Prestige mid | Real Racquet: Head Prestige Classic mid
Name: Max Mirnyi | PJ Racquet: Wilson NSix-One 95 18x20 | Real Racquet: Wilson Prostaff classic 6.1 18x20

Female

Name: Justine Henin-Hardenne | PJ Racquet: Wilson NTour | Real Racquet: ?
Name: Maria Sharapova | PJ Racquet: Prince Shark | Real Racquet: Prince TT Hornet MP
Name: Serena Williams | PJ Racquet: Wilson n6 | Real Racquet: Wilson Hyper Hammer 6.4 w/ powerholes

 

[fedex27]

name:guga
pj: head prestige mid
real: pt 280

 

[Nadal_Rulz]

andre agassi- head flexpoint radical-donnay pro 1?
maria sharapova-prince shark-prince tt hornet os
Lleyton Hewitt-yonex rdx 500 mid-Yonex super rd tour 90
serena williams-wilson n6-Wilson hyper hammer 6.4 w/ powerholes

 

[DX_Psycho]

i think sharapova uses midplus but until someone says otherwise i'll just put what you said.

 

[Nadal_Rulz]

Jusine Henin Hardene-Wilson NTour-something with powerholes.
Max Mirnyi(sp?)-Wilson NSix-One 95 18x20-Wilson Prostaff classic 6.1 18x20

 

[tennissavy]

sharapova uses the triple threat hornet midplus under the paint of her "shark".

 

[Nadal_Rulz]

i believe it was stated that she has x amount of sweetspot suspension grommets on her racquet that equaled the number on the hornet os not mp.

 

[tennissavy]

I made the statement regarding the grommets. 7 on each side for the midplus, which she uses and 9, I believe, for the oversize. string pattern for midplus is 16x20 oversize- 16x19. Her racquet has 16x20. The shark has 16x19 in mp and os so she is still using hornet. Also look at shape of the throat-hornet mp it proves to be not a shark or more attack and hornet mp has shared hole grommets at 10 & 2 o'clock. The os does not have shared hole grommets. The shark doesn't have shared hole grommets either. I know she is still using the hornet mp.

 

[erik-the-red]

I think Serena is usually a totally-custom Wilson n3.

It does not look at all like the racquet she used in previous years.

 

[fedex27]

since when is there somemuch talk about sharapova's racquet

 

[DX_Psycho]

that's true, serena's racquet is now different i believe.

 

[Jonnyf]

the throat is an odd shape (n code shape so it can't be the 6.4)

 

[paintjob]

Agassi's Racquet

Agassi uses a Head Pro Tour 280 OS

 

[danniflava]

Serena Williams doesn't use a paintjob. She used to paint her Hyper Hammer 6.4 w/ Powerholes to look like the Wilson H6, Wilson Hyper Hammer 6.3, and Wilson Hyper Hammer 6.2.

There's no way that paint can make the throat, head shape, and grip length different. It's not a paintjob.

 

[Nadal_Rulz]

Agassi uses a Head Pro Tour 280 OS

i believe not, but then again im a nadal specialist.

:weeps:

 

[BDAZ]

although i've never held agassi's racket, i would be certain that he's not using a donnay pro one under the paint. head shape is too different. most likely either a totally custom frame or the very first radical. can anyone in the know confirm?

 

[Saito]

although i've never held agassi's racket, i would be certain that he's not using a donnay pro one under the paint. head shape is too different. most likely either a totally custom frame or the very first radical. can anyone in the know confirm?

Agreed on the first radical OS..... I still have my Donnay Pro (had it since the good ole' days of the mullet) and frame is way to diff to be it... ti radical OS painted...

 

[donnyz89]

wow, at first i thought it was just Leyton Hewitt, and now its everyone... this racquet thing is really overrated imo.

 

[moosryan]

Agreed on the first radical OS..... I still have my Donnay Pro (had it since the good ole' days of the mullet) and frame is way to diff to be it... ti radical OS painted...

yes, a ti radical with a flat beam....i highly doubt that

 

[JennyS]

I think a lot of players have custom made racquets.

 

[doriancito]

The real answer to andre agassi's racuquet is having HIM come up to this forum and posting his answer HIMSELF!

 

[Jonnyf]

you can't fake holes which i have seen a pic and andre has them no paintjob

 

[doriancito]

U are right!!!!! Are is using flexpoint then!

 

[YEMntFtb]

Federer, original sampras prostaff?

 

[Exile]

to the sampras federer thing, look at the throats of each racket, then look at the string pattern, of course SP can be changed but throats are a little trickier.

 

[dAgEnIuS]

just wondering...
is there real proof that the pros are using paintjobs????
i dont see how you guys make the assumptions without any evidence...

and for the flexpoint and O3 players... how are they supposed "paint" a hole through the middle of the racket and those gigantic holes on top of the racket for O3??

 

[fedex27]

just wondering...
is there real proof that the pros are using paintjobs????
i dont see how you guys make the assumptions without any evidence...

and for the flexpoint and O3 players... how are they supposed "paint" a hole through the middle of the racket and those gigantic holes on top of the racket for O3??

if you actually look at a flexpoint, the hole is very small so it can easily be painted

 

[efice32]

is it possible for any of you to believe that these players change rackets that much? I am pretty good friends with Andy Roddick's former stringer and he said that Andy is using a Babolat Pure Drive Team+ but it is totally customized. If you went into a racket shop and bought a Babolat PDT+ it would be totally different, but that doesn't make it any other racket. That's probably what all these players have. Andre's is a flexpoint radical, but it's customized to his liking. A flexpoint radical that was ordered from a store would be different, but it's still a flexpoint radical. And in regards to Serena and the powerholes...She is using an nCode but it's made exactly the way she wants it. Her racket in a store is different than her racket that she plays with. Hopefully we can put all of this paintjob stuff to bed and accept that these players just cutomize their rackets but the bases of their rackets are the rackets that we can buy in stores.

 

[fedex27]

Federer, original sampras prostaff?

that was the last stock racquet he ever used. once he switched the hps 6.1 pj he got a custom racquet, there is a thread on it under: repost of feds real racket

 

[wtennis206]

U are right!!!!! Are is using flexpoint then!

why do you want andre to be using a flexpoint so badly? you even started a thread on this topic.

 

[donnyz89]

efice is prolly right. doesnt matter what racquet they use, its gonna be different than any racquet we can possibly buy. and why does it matter anyways? are you trying to be like the pros and see what their racquets feel like? well nothing you find will satisfy you because maybe agassi is using a flexpoint with the same stiffness, and everything as the liquidmetal he used. there is no REAL racquet, the one they play with is their REAL racquet, they can make their racquet into w/e they want.

 

[tennissavy]

is it possible for any of you to believe that these players change rackets that much? I am pretty good friends with Andy Roddick's former stringer and he said that Andy is using a Babolat Pure Drive Team+ but it is totally customized. If you went into a racket shop and bought a Babolat PDT+ it would be totally different, but that doesn't make it any other racket. That's probably what all these players have. Andre's is a flexpoint radical, but it's customized to his liking. A flexpoint radical that was ordered from a store would be different, but it's still a flexpoint radical. And in regards to Serena and the powerholes...She is using an nCode but it's made exactly the way she wants it. Her racket in a store is different than her racket that she plays with. Hopefully we can put all of this paintjob stuff to bed and accept that these players just cutomize their rackets but the bases of their rackets are the rackets that we can buy in stores.

Any pros who use the actual model found in the stores definitely customize the frames, that's true. However, some players do not play with the frames they are endorsing. One of many examples is Sharapova who is playing with the tt hornet mp not a more attack and not a shark. Just look at the sharapova paintjob thread. I did my research as well as other people. Serena stuck with her 6.4 w/ powerholes, which had an 18x19 pattern, to win all her grand slam titles. She never used a 6.3, 6.2 or H6, not even close. Now, however, she has changed from the 6.4 to a model which is not available to the public. It is specially made for her and it does not have an 18x19 pattern. The head also seems larger than 110". BTW her 6.4 w/ powerholes used to be available to the public but it did not sell very well. Few people bought them but at least it was available to us, although we would still need to weight it like Serena does. This new racquet is just an oddity of Wilson's creation, just for her much like Henin's racquet(has powerholes at 3&9).

 

[TommyGun]

To efice and other posters here:

the Paint Job argument isn't about customized frames. The argument is not using the BASE frame which is then customized. For years I used a Volkl C-10 Pro Tour, put a leather grip on it, added lead and changed the strings many ways. That is not a paint job.

The Sharapova example, and more funny, the recent pictures of Albert Costa using the Prince painted black with the Fischer Stencil are the argument. Serena now uses something nCode as the base, as you can't fake that funny throat shape. I would not say she is using a paint job. Venus is borderline, as the frame they market as hers has a seperate throat the head, but her frame clearly doesn't. Now, still an nCode, but not really the n4.

Sharapova is clearly using a Hornet 100 sq head painted to look like a Shark. If you went to the store you couldn't find anything even close. There are a lot of pros using frames that under the paint are NOT the models they are using. Agassi does NOT use flexpoint technology, although I believe it is a TiRadical painted. I give Andre medium weight, as it is still a radical you can buy on the discount shelf somewhere, but clearly not LM or Flexpoint.

Federer clearly does not use the base nCode frame, so he is a PJ user. Davenport I believe is also a PJ.

Best way to spot it is to look at pro players with "new" racquets every year. Odds are they are paint jobs, as few pros nowadays switch frames and throw off their games.

 

[phobos]

I agree with TommyGun mostly, I seriously doubt that Agassi switches radicals as much as Head does, I used to play with the ti. radical MP, i.radical MP, and I tried the LM, they were all different. I have not hit with the flexpoint yet, but I have one at my house and it seems to be very similar to the LM, the holes would be extremely easy to fake (because they are so tiny, virtually just black dots). But this thread has gone WAY off topic, I think it was started mainly for some comic relief at the expense of some pro's, their sponsors, and how completely, laughably even, corporate and money mongering the situation has become.

 

[sinxr8088]

to the sampras federer thing, look at the throats of each racket, then look at the string pattern, of course SP can be changed but throats are a little trickier.

I played with the St Vincent 85 for the last 10 years, and just switched to the nSix-One Tour 90, if you hold them against one another, there is virtually no difference except for about a 1/4 inch in over all head length, and an 1/8 of an inch on either side of the head in width. If you're judging by pictures of the two racquets, it would be impossible to tell other then the paint job. You can hold both together and it is hard enough to tell. The throats are almost identical. It's hard enough spotting differences holding them in front of your face, much less trying to clarify the resemblance by comparing two pictures.

-sin

 

[fedex27]

andre agassi-flexpoint rad os- head lm instinct

 

[fedex27]

I played with the St Vincent 85 for the last 10 years, and just switched to the nSix-One Tour 90, if you hold them against one another, there is virtually no difference except for about a 1/4 inch in over all head length, and an 1/8 of an inch on either side of the head in width. If you're judging by pictures of the two racquets, it would be impossible to tell other then the paint job. You can hold both together and it is hard enough to tell. The throats are almost identical. It's hard enough spotting differences holding them in front of your face, much less trying to clarify the resemblance by comparing two pictures.

-sin

the throats on the 85 and 90s are different. also the handle is differnt. the 85 is long.

 

[TennisD]

andre agassi-flexpoint rad os- head lm instinct

No. Really really no.

 

[ATXtennisaddict]

The whole thought about paintjobs sickens me.

 

[TennisD]

The whole thought about paintjobs sickens me.

Why, exactly?

 

[fastdunn]

Name: Lleyton Hewitt | PJ Racquet: Yonex RDX 500 mid | Real Racquet: Yonex Super RD Tour 90

I think it's SRD Tour 95, not 90.

FD

 

[baselinebrawler]

This article is a bit old but reveals alot:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/usopen04/news/story?id=1872892

 

[YEMntFtb]

Do the pros have their racquets old PJ painted over with the new PJ, wouldn't this add weight? or do they paint over on the metal?

 

[sinxr8088]

the throats on the 85 and 90s are different. also the handle is differnt. the 85 is long.

It's amazing that you can tell that from a picture when I have them both in front of me, and it's hard to tell from here. Yes there is a slight difference, but to say that you can tell it from viewing two pictures of the racquets, and distinguishing that one is the 85 and the other is the nCodeT90 if they were painted the same is amazing. You should look into a career in Forensic Science.

-sin

 

[esrb]

South American Paintjobs

As far as I know:
Acasuso / Head PC600 (LM PJ)
Calleri / Head PC600 (LM PJ)
Horna / Babolat PC+ (PS PJ)
Massu-Gonzo / PC+ (PS PJ)
my 2 cents.

 

[doriancito]

how about fed? and iw ant a real answer now

 

[maconick]

Federer Nsix-one Prostaff