innoVAShaun
G.O.A.T.
You can see the bevels. Looks like he has a larger grip size too.
The Racquets of Daniil Medvedev
- Thread starter BorgCash
- Start date
You can see the bevels. Looks like he has a larger grip size too.
ChrisJR3264
Hall of Fame
It’s reported he uses an L3 but I don’t think many have true confirmation. Wondering if he uses leather or something. Apparently all the weights added is in the handle
He uses L3 grip, i had his own racquets and still have one, all the same 3 grip size.
ChrisJR3264
Hall of Fame
How is the grip shape on his TF rackets? Custom mold or is it the rectangular shape ?
I'm not familiar with regular TF grips, his grips looks regular. At least on racquets i have.
innoVAShaun
G.O.A.T.
Znak
Hall of Fame
looks like no 25s for now either
ChrisJR3264
Hall of Fame
Back to razor code. Atleast in a hybrid.
Crosses have knots over crosses so I’m guessing gut/razor code
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
So, I’m a huge Medvedev fan that just got on here.
I seem to remember in one of these threads that there was a guy (maybe it was @pabletion or cluckcluck?) who supposedly had insider info on Daniil’s equipment and said that he has demoed TF’s current offerings before eventually sticking with his DC 95. We know he went back and forth with Gut mains & full Razor Soft last year.
Now he’s been practicing this week with what looks like OG Razor Code. It really doesn’t make sense to me after all the complaining he’s done about the heavy balls and not having any power to go back to his least powerful setup, UNLESS he’s actually went to a bigger frame and is trying to tame it. I’ve been calling for him to do that for a long time and hope he has. Carlos & Jannik are both more inherently powerful and using 98/100’s, he needs to use something that gives him more for free.
If anyone can shed light on what’s happening, it’d be much appreciated.
I seem to remember in one of these threads that there was a guy (maybe it was @pabletion or cluckcluck?) who supposedly had insider info on Daniil’s equipment and said that he has demoed TF’s current offerings before eventually sticking with his DC 95. We know he went back and forth with Gut mains & full Razor Soft last year.
Now he’s been practicing this week with what looks like OG Razor Code. It really doesn’t make sense to me after all the complaining he’s done about the heavy balls and not having any power to go back to his least powerful setup, UNLESS he’s actually went to a bigger frame and is trying to tame it. I’ve been calling for him to do that for a long time and hope he has. Carlos & Jannik are both more inherently powerful and using 98/100’s, he needs to use something that gives him more for free.
If anyone can shed light on what’s happening, it’d be much appreciated.
You're mixing up attacking players who constantly give pace to the ball and in rallies, go for winners and/or forced errors with a slowballer defender counterpuncher. Medvedev is doing really well at AO because balls are dead and slow and he can keep rallies slower than his opponents like, can more easily play his octopus playstyle from way behind the baseline precisely because it's difficult for his opponents to score winners or forced errors since the balls are so dead and slow
He was dumb to go for a deader low powered string like Razor Soft and it was only a matter of time he would get back to Razor Code which is more elastic and powerful for a competition poly. Now testing gut/RC hybrid it seems, good move
Dead and slow Dunlop AO balls are still totally in his favour though, same with Djokovic, De Minaur etc and if Sinner or Alcaraz want to beat them they will have to simply outlast them in rallies
95 is more precise on serves for him, plus he plays way behind the base line and just has so much more time to line up his shots and hit flat with the sweet spot. A player stepping into the court will be rushed and will hit less centred so 100 is more important
He's also playing with a 335g racquet vs Sinner and Alcaraz who are playing with 304-310g racquets, but again, he's so far back and he has way more time to swing it. He even swings at practically all his returns, very few block returns
His big problem is also that tennis has caught up with defender counterpuncher style, after only 20 years of stupidity and incompetence. Medvedev, Djokovic, De Minaur etc are often tactically outplayed today, with balls to the body and cross, much less flat pace to the sides, spinnier drives etc so they just lose their counterpunching opportunities. Djokovic and De Minaur are better than Medvedev in forcing a higher pace onto their opponents so they then get pace to counterpunch on, but they are on the base line, while Medvedev is standing behind the stadium and can't and won't force pace onto the opponent, so he doesn't have pace to counterpunch on either
It was funny watching Murray fail miserably in that same tactic these last couple of years until he finally gave up
And it was also really nice to see Fonseca blow Tien away in that same match up, attacker vs defender counterpuncher. Twice. Good times
He was dumb to go for a deader low powered string like Razor Soft and it was only a matter of time he would get back to Razor Code which is more elastic and powerful for a competition poly. Now testing gut/RC hybrid it seems, good move
Dead and slow Dunlop AO balls are still totally in his favour though, same with Djokovic, De Minaur etc and if Sinner or Alcaraz want to beat them they will have to simply outlast them in rallies
95 is more precise on serves for him, plus he plays way behind the base line and just has so much more time to line up his shots and hit flat with the sweet spot. A player stepping into the court will be rushed and will hit less centred so 100 is more important
He's also playing with a 335g racquet vs Sinner and Alcaraz who are playing with 304-310g racquets, but again, he's so far back and he has way more time to swing it. He even swings at practically all his returns, very few block returns
His big problem is also that tennis has caught up with defender counterpuncher style, after only 20 years of stupidity and incompetence. Medvedev, Djokovic, De Minaur etc are often tactically outplayed today, with balls to the body and cross, much less flat pace to the sides, spinnier drives etc so they just lose their counterpunching opportunities. Djokovic and De Minaur are better than Medvedev in forcing a higher pace onto their opponents so they then get pace to counterpunch on, but they are on the base line, while Medvedev is standing behind the stadium and can't and won't force pace onto the opponent, so he doesn't have pace to counterpunch on either
It was funny watching Murray fail miserably in that same tactic these last couple of years until he finally gave up
And it was also really nice to see Fonseca blow Tien away in that same match up, attacker vs defender counterpuncher. Twice. Good times
I received a Razor Soft White 100m reel as part of a launch deal for the TF 305S, it has a very nice white pearl translucent color. Completely different from Ice Code for example, which is really opaque.
I wonder if because of this Razor Soft White has a different playability and feel than the original black/gray or the yellow one (like Yonex PTP yellow vs the other colors)
I wonder if because of this Razor Soft White has a different playability and feel than the original black/gray or the yellow one (like Yonex PTP yellow vs the other colors)
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
I appreciate the thoughts as in the other thread, but I thought Razor Soft was supposed to be the more powerful and flexible string, and that’s why he changed? In any case, apparently he’s not going back to OG, they are just coming out with Soft in white.
I understand why some people don’t care for Med’s game, and I’ll admit it’s not super thrilling, I root for him because he’s super gritty and succeeds despite being much less talented than all the top players. I respectfully disagree with some of your assertions but do find them interesting.
That said, I also partially disagree with Daniil’s statement that the dead balls help Sinner and Alcaraz. They definitely help Sinner (Cahill has said as much), but looking at Carlos’s HC results in 2023/24 compared to how he played at the ‘22 USO, they absolutely hurt him. He gets impatient trying to blast his opponent away and makes lots of errors. It’s not a coincidence he does better at RG/Wimbledon which use regular duty balls.
The guys that the heavy balls hurt more than anyone are the heavy topspin hitters. There is a direct correlation between FAA’s HC results and the balls, and Ruud has been hurt more than anyone else, since he has the most spin. Also look at Berrettini getting hurt immediately after the ball change at AO.
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
Could be ever so slightly more soft and powerful. Dark/black strings are always stiffer.
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
The racquet he’s using now definitely is still 18x19, but if any eagle eyed observers here can tell if he’s indeed gone from a 95 to 98 from the practice pics, that’d be great.
Tried Razor Soft black in both 1.25 and 1.30 and it's a low powered control poly string, a bit muted. Plays like an old dead slightly muted poly, that has been well used, like 8h or so, with very little elasticity remaining. Not even particularly softer than Razor code either. But Razor Code white is comfy and elastic anyway. But it's very slightly springy, so Medvedev used to practice with a racquet or two, to reduce the elasticity a bit, and then play his match with that same string, playing the whole match with the same racquet/string, without changing at all with new balls. He probably asked Tf to make a more dead and controlled version of Razor code, less springy, with less elasticity, and so he got Razor Soft. A misleading name though. Two strings that aren't really similar, more like the opposite. One is elastic and power oriented, the other totally dead, but both are 'Razor'
Medvedev is smart, his coach too, and they really found the only niche he can succeed in, playing the waiting game from way behind the base line, where he has time to get his long body out of the way and set up his feet and swings, and compensate for his lack of twitch and explosiveness in groundstrokes, and use the way he so precisely guides the ball around the court. Now that he's tactically outplayed they want more than that, whole 2024 they've been practising attacking the forehand from inside the base line, after every hitting practice his partner would say bye but they would stay and coach would give easy balls just behind the service line for Daniil to attack.
But he still can't use that in matches, he's far back, doesn't get to attack too often, plus he's bad at volleying. He has a weird swing on the forehand that works for blocking and guiding the ball around but not for whippy fast drives in front of the body. He just isn't good at giving pace to the ball on the fh side, especially if the ball is spinny and slightly higher and floating. Zverev attacked his forehand non stop when he beat him in ATP Finals final, but now Sinner and everyone else do the same. They just hold forehand crosses until he breaks down, plus balls into his body, and he's slow to get out of his own way since he's so tall, he prefers having balls away from him, where he can step into the shot, swing wide, and reuse the incoming flat pace. If all three are taken away from him he's just stuck. I also don't see him improving much either, despite his strong will, he's just a bit limited
Not a fan of him provoking conflicts with the crowd only to feed from that either, like Djokovic, both feed emotionally by spite and anger. Commentators politely call it defiance but that's just negativity, not defiance
Yeah when Sinner went down with swingweight mid 2023 his avg ball speed went down but he could last way longer in points, with more variety in pace and spin, which brought him to no 1 really. Before he was a bit dependent on really high speed blasting, which totally went in favour of Medvedev, Djokovic, Nadal etc, they would just easily counterpunch on that, kill the pace and wait for Jannik to make an unforced error as he went for too much
And I agree that AO balls don't suit Alcaraz, he still lacks a bit in that 'last longer in points' part, and can't as easily hit through or use spin to get a higher ball back that he could attack with those balls. His USO title in 2022 was with old US Open balls though, new ones in 2023 were crazy slow, unsurprisingly we saw Djokovic Medvedev in the final. Balls seemed to be improved at USO 2024, but again it was Sinner who outlasted his opponents, and Alcaraz couldn't as easily hit through and score winners.
Botic vdZ bamboozled Carlos by killing pace completely, exactly like Monfils in Cinci just before that. Carlos could and should have won both those matches though, he was just being a bit young and impatient. He said that he played the worst match of his life vs Monfils in Cinci, but not true, he played really well until the rain break, and the next day Monfils played an entirely different game, slowballing and then pouncing, and Carlos didn't adapt on time, just tried to get some pace but made endless errors. Super slick courts in Cinci didn't help him either. And Botic and his coach saw that and just copied it at USO 2 weeks later
Regular duty and extra duty are expressions used only in North America, there are no RD nor XD balls in the rest of the world I think. To me that seems just marketing, not sure. E.g. now you have Penn Tour XD and RD, but before the XD was introduced in 2021 only Penn Tour existed, since mid 90s, was called Penn ATP until 2019. And now that same ball suddenly has become 'regular duty', despite being the ball of ATP Finals for more than 20 years, Indian Wells since its inception, Cinci for 20+ years until 2021, Shanghai and Paris Masters. It's returned to IW as well from 2024 after 3 years of XD. We don't have 'regular duty' balls in Europe. It's printed on the US Open can 'extra duty' but there are no 'regular duty' ones for sale, nor are the Wilson US Open extra duty at all, they get destroyed quicker than any other pro level ball
Wilson RG are softer than previous Babolat Roland Garros balls, which were harder and a bit deader, but there is no RD/XD version of either one. There's only Wilson RG Clay. And Babolat Team Clay, as the Babolat RG was renamed. Babolat Team All Court also exist but are the same as Clay, not softer nor more 'regular duty'. Same ball, maybe the felt is slightly different, but I couldn't notice the difference. Same can, same design, same price.
But Slazenger Wimbledons are ultra soft to keep them in play easier, made for grass, slick and bumpy. Nothing to do with the RD/XD story. All other balls made for grass/synthetic grass/old fast carpets are also ultra soft and mushy, since the 70s, just to keep them in play more easily on a quick surface
That's why Slazenger Wimbledons are a bit useless on other surfaces, too soft and mushy, they get super slow after a bit. Even on grass they're so soft that it's just so easy to keep them in play, inside the lines. They are a big reason why Nadal won Wimbledon titles, or Murray, or why Djokovic won so many, as it's just difficult to hit through with them and at the same time it's super easy to defend with them and get them back inside the lines. Whether you get them in or way out of the sweet spot they still fly back into the court. Just like hitting a ball of soft wool. Super soft rubber, soft plush and wooly fluffy felt. I used several cartons with juniors, 12 to 14yo, but on clay and hard courts. Great balls for them, super soft and not too bouncy, they relax and nicely extend their swings
And yeah, Ruud gets destroyed with his spins, his balls sit up at shoulder height without enough pace, easy for his opponents to attack. Just recently I was commenting that same thing. FAA too, but he has a bit undefined game overall. But I don't get the Berrettini sentence, ball change at AO was from 2019. Wilson AO balls were used until then, Federer won two titles in a row, and was easily the biggest loser in that change. A bit unfair methinks too. And Berrettini isn't really a heavy topspin player, he crushes the ball with flat power forehands whenever he can
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bobeeto
Hall of Fame
based on my comparison it’s still the 95
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
He is indeed limited unfortunately, all the grit in the world can’t overcome such a skill deficit. That’s why he’s (I think) going to the bigger racquet.
If it was a just world he’d have the ‘24 AO and redemption, Sinner and Alcaraz would still be winning plenty, and everyone could be happy. But life isn’t fair sadly. Thus, I resent them, because they never seem to face any real trauma. I’m literally praying for a miracle for Daniil. But recognizing those truths is why I don’t spend a lot of time reading about tennis outside of matches, because it gets me down. I will likely be done with tennis soon because it hurts too much for him to be defined by those two losses.
I didn’t know that Sinner had went down in SW mid-2023. That’s very interesting. I just know that he had the biggest overnight transformation ever between the USO & Beijing (went from cramping up so bad during a night match he could barely move to completely untouchable), which is what honestly makes me suspicious about his case, whether or not that’s valid, the equipment change could have had an effect too. Perhaps that’s why Daniil’s new setup is lighter, to get the same effect.
I did mean that the dead balls hurt Carlos, the old ones like USO ‘22 were better for him. Sorry, my bad on the confusion. I do like your analysis though, I honestly didn’t notice that in his losses.
Agree on FAA & Ruud. My point on Matteo wasn’t that the balls didn’t get heavier before, it’s that they got even heavier still in ‘23, per all players comments. It’s pretty clear they’ve progressively gotten heavier over time. Really stupid way to get longer rallies, it strains the player’s bodies, just make the courts slower if you want rallies.
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
He claims it could be the same mold but in a 98, which I didn’t think of for some reason. Evidently Griekspoor does something similar. I suppose only Daniil and his team know for sure. I hope it is a 98, he’s dumb if he sticks with 95.
There was a 98 in the same model - the 325 was a 95 18x19, 315/305 were 98
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
Oh right. At least the 2016 one that was blue (I forget what it was called). Maybe the red DC too, I don’t remember.
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
So their 98 would be more like a 100? Or does that only apply for the 95?
Only the 95.
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
Thanks.
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
@ChrisJR3264 One last question, sorry.
If Daniil has indeed gone to this custom 98 frame, would the closest thing you can buy now be the XTC 305?
Also, if there was going to be any signs in his game of change, what would they be?
If Daniil has indeed gone to this custom 98 frame, would the closest thing you can buy now be the XTC 305?
Also, if there was going to be any signs in his game of change, what would they be?
It would probably be one of the other DC T-Fights which were 98
ChrisJR3264
Hall of Fame
Probably one of the dynacore/xtc 98 versions. They were actually “atp tour prepared” at a retail level.
He doesn’t lack point construction. His baseline game is superb. But there are times he has the opportunity to take the ball step in and attack to the net and never does and decides to play out the ralley a tad longer.
If you mean those ltd ones, iirc correctly they had a thinner beam, like 20mm instead of 22.
ChrisJR3264
Hall of Fame
It’s hard to gauge really.
The info I got was he flipped to a 98. These are pros so I am almost 100% sure they’re using a custom spec.
I believe iga tested a bunch of rackets under the same paint job while endorsing the 300 ISO.
There’s been rumors she was actually using similar to the xtc 300 layup/mold.
I believe players like Giekspore use the mold of the dynacore/xtc. Same with Jeremy Chardy.
No clue what they are playing with but do you mean the Tfight XTC or the Tfight XTC LTD. The first is basically the normal Tfight 305 mold that was 22mm dynacore and before and is a tad thicker now. The LTD was the one they sold 'Atp tour prepared' with silicon & leather but is a thinner beam.
ChrisJR3264
Hall of Fame
Xtc. There was a dynacore version prior to the xtc that was a 98 but the name of the line is coming to a blank. Believe it was the first upgrade from the 95VO’s to a 98.
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
It was also called DC, may have been the Ltd (don’t remember), came out in 2016, and was blue instead of red. Watch footage of Med in 2017/Early 2018 to see the PJ.
I don’t remember the beam thickness, but TW panned it pretty heavily in their reviews, which is why I think that concept didn’t last long.
Given that there was no original DC 98 305, and the Ltd was apparently thinner beamed, yeah I’m inclined to believe the XTC is the closest thing. I’ve interestingly also heard that playing characteristic-wise for some reason that the RS is the closest recent racquet to Novak’s (yes it’s 98 to his 95, but otherwise).
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
Also, that’s interesting to hear about the racquets being “tour-prepared” in the past. I assume they don’t do that anymore?
Older Tf racquets were 'copies' of Head, flexy etc, and when Medvedev signed with them they made him a 'copy' of Wilson 6.1 95 he played with before, heavier and much stiffer. They probably made those to attract players who were previously Head/Wilson players
I had friends who played with older Tf 320g racquets, Head-like, and newer more Wilson-like, both 320g but very different, they made fewer racquet lines then I think, only when Tf was bought by Lacoste in 2017 they started with much larger investments
So there are basically two 'eras' in their racquet making, but they only became a big name as a part of Lacoste group, with much much larger budget. They were small before, smaller than Dunlop today I would say, just a small 'B' actor in the racquet business
I had friends who played with older Tf 320g racquets, Head-like, and newer more Wilson-like, both 320g but very different, they made fewer racquet lines then I think, only when Tf was bought by Lacoste in 2017 they started with much larger investments
So there are basically two 'eras' in their racquet making, but they only became a big name as a part of Lacoste group, with much much larger budget. They were small before, smaller than Dunlop today I would say, just a small 'B' actor in the racquet business
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
Yeah, I forgot about the Lacoste acquisition, that makes sense. I think they have some old Babolat employees working for them now too.
Yeah, I know it’s the only reason Daniil wears Lacoste, he’s about as far from a Lacoste type as you can get, lol.
Hawks9451
Professional
Lacoste has a big Eastern European market
Kalugin
Rookie
I have personal Medvedev's racquet from summer 2019.
It's 98 headsize.
More info here:
tt.tennis-warehouse.com
It's 98 headsize.
More info here:
Daniil Medvedev personal racquet. Secrets.
Daniil Medvedev is not only the tallest guy to reach no 1 position in ATP rankings, but also a phenom with absolutely unorthodox style of play. Called Octopus by his colleagues and fans, he knows how to be very inconvenient to his opponents. For sure his racquet is one of the most important part...
tt.tennis-warehouse.com
