what is pete sampras using right now?
- Thread starter gerikoh
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Shashwat
Semi-Pro
Same racquet as Fed.
90 head. Or as some people say probably a 88.
It's a custom frame, not for sale.
Shashwat
Semi-Pro
AlpineCadet
Hall of Fame
Why would Wilson give Sampras an old supply of Federer's K90's with the nCode paint job when Sampras can just use the retail k90 and advertise for Wilson with their latest k90 retail racket? 
Sounds to me like that theory just doesn't add up anymore. The nCode paintjob is obviously RF's old racket, but we still CANNOT be certain as to what it actually is (claiming it to be a retail k90,) but it is safe to assume that IF RF is ACTUALLY using a retail k90, then Pete would be doing the same thing, and he is not. The nCode pj and RF current racket are the same layup/composite, and are totally different from the retail k90 that Sampras isn't using.
Sounds to me like that theory just doesn't add up anymore. The nCode paintjob is obviously RF's old racket, but we still CANNOT be certain as to what it actually is (claiming it to be a retail k90,) but it is safe to assume that IF RF is ACTUALLY using a retail k90, then Pete would be doing the same thing, and he is not. The nCode pj and RF current racket are the same layup/composite, and are totally different from the retail k90 that Sampras isn't using.
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
Because he got Federer's leftovers from when Federer used the K90 with a nCode90 paintjob from 2004 to 2006.
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
Did you actually hold Sampras' racquet next to your nCode90? No? Then case closed!
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
Photos of racquets can be at slightly different angles which would make them appear to be of different sizes when they are in fact exactly the same size.
loubapache
Professional
Fair enough.
Did you actually hold Federer's racquet next to one of your 6 nCode90? No? Then case closed!
The fact of matter is that not many people know exactly what these people are using. Remember the stringer for Federer said that some of his racket specs cannot be disclosed. Well, Wilson said the one you can buy is the "Federer's racket".
loubapache
Professional
Fair enough again, BP.
Photos of racquets can be at slightly different angles which would make them appear to be of the same size when they are in fact different sizes.
Use your engineer's background to look at this from both angles.
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
Because what else is Wilson going to do with the hundreds of Federer's leftover K90's with the old nCode 90 paintjobs on them? They are certainly not going to want retail customers to get their hands on them or else people will have physical evidence that Federer never used a real nCode90.Why would Wilson give Sampras an old supply of Federer's K90's with the nCode paint job when Sampras can just use the retail k90 and advertise for Wilson with their latest k90 retail racket?
Besides, Sampras is no longer sponsored by Wilson so he doesn't have to do what they want him to do but can do whatever he wants. Knowing how Sampras demanded that whatever new racquet Wilson made for him only be predominantly black when they designed the PS Tour 90 for him because he preferred the conservative, non-flashy look (like his PS 6.0 85 and his all white Nike polo shirts, shoes, etc.), he must be appalled at the funky paintjob of the retail K90. I think it's safe to assume, given Sampras' conservative nature, that he prefers the classic nCode90 paintjob to the wild and crazy K90 paintjob.
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
Not sure what you're saying because the "W" on top of the handle is still there in all the pics of Sampras' racquet. Don't forget that Wilson changed the color of that logo from a black square with a red "W" inside to a sliver square with a black "W" inside after the first year of production. I own both versions.
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
That's because his stringer Nate Ferguson takes the retail K90's and then customizes them to Federer's exact specs. You CAN buy Federer's racquet and then customize it to YOUR exact specs. It's as simple as that. Anyone who strings their frame and/or puts an overgrip on it has customzied the racquet to their specs.
BTW, if Nike sold Federer's shoe to the public and I buy it in size 10.5 but Federer wears a size 12, does that mean I didn't buy Federer's shoe?
"I'm using the Federer racquet, which is a little bit bigger than what I had," said Sampras, who reports he has been practicing about two hours a day four times a week for the past month with Justin Gimelstob and members of the UCLA tennis team. "It has a little more power, but the control is not as good especially when I hit it off the frame. Playing tennis is like riding a bike: you don't forget it. Even when I'm practicing I still want to wow myself. I can still serve pretty hard and move well enough. I always feel swagger every time I step on court."
http://www.sportsmediainc.com/tennisweek/index.cfm?func=showarticle&newsid=15033&bannerregion=
http://www.sportsmediainc.com/tennisweek/index.cfm?func=showarticle&newsid=15033&bannerregion=
Alright, lets help some of these people here understand.
This was already stated previously, but let me try to help.
Roger Federer, requested Wilson to make a custom racket for him. He worked with Wilson to develop this frame. From 2004-Present he's being using this frame. Lets call it "XYZ" frame. In order to keep the marketing machine going and revenue flowing, this "XYZ" frame has been painted to look like various models that were released to retail.
The "K90" that is being sold in the retail market is the first time this "XYZ" frame has been sold to the retail channel.
Sampras is using this "XYZ" frame, that is painted like the retail N90.
We only call it a "K90" because that is what Wilson has decided to name the "XYZ" frame.
The "XYZ" frame has been under 2-3 paintjobs.
Sampras received the racquets before Federer switched over to the "K90" paintjob.
This was already stated previously, but let me try to help.
Roger Federer, requested Wilson to make a custom racket for him. He worked with Wilson to develop this frame. From 2004-Present he's being using this frame. Lets call it "XYZ" frame. In order to keep the marketing machine going and revenue flowing, this "XYZ" frame has been painted to look like various models that were released to retail.
The "K90" that is being sold in the retail market is the first time this "XYZ" frame has been sold to the retail channel.
Sampras is using this "XYZ" frame, that is painted like the retail N90.
We only call it a "K90" because that is what Wilson has decided to name the "XYZ" frame.
The "XYZ" frame has been under 2-3 paintjobs.
Sampras received the racquets before Federer switched over to the "K90" paintjob.
Azzurri
Legend
exactly...Pete is very anal about his racquet and no way the guy is going to switch to an entirely different frame.
A thought...remember before Pete retired, he was supposed to switch to the Tour 90. I know Fed ended up using the stick. I have read somewhere that Fed actually used a real Tour 90, but did not like it. He wanted something closer to the PS 85 feel and what not. I had seen a pic of Fed using a "regular" Tour 90 (he had the normal pallet and it had 5 strings across the PWS). At some point he began using a racquet that he still uses today and it seems like we now have it (maybe). I can only assume that is why Pete is using it also. It is the closest thing to the original PS 85.
Azzurri
Legend
Why would Pete lie? please tell me. He said countless time its ROGERS RACQUET. He probably got a bunch of them last year when Fed still had the Ncode PJ. So now why in the F would Pete send them back to be painted? WHY????? He does not get paid by Wilson. Also, I don't think he gives a plug nickel about the color of the K Factor. Why people on this thread are so hard jeaded is beyone me.:evil:
Azzurri
Legend
You would think some people could follow you very easy, step by step information on how Pete attained his racquets. Why people would insist its something else is beyone me...its a dam TENNIS RACQUET. I get tired of some of the newbies and teens on this board. And not to mention the MORONS.
By the way, have you heard if Nike will bring any new color schemes to the Oscillate? They are on sale now.
Azzurri
Legend
LOL...this is an odd post. Think about it, he worked with Wilson for like 16 years. Wilson should pay him for every PS 85 that they sell. I realize its a great racquet, but Pete really popularized it. You are talking about Pete Sampras, not some TW insane poster (like me).
Azzurri
Legend
Thank you...now we can only hope people will actually listen and understand this logic...considering all the teens and what not on this board.
loubapache
Professional
Cool down, guys. There is such a thing called marketing.
When Wilson released the N90, they said that is Federer's real racket. Sales increased but slowed down after a couple of years.
So Wilson released the K90 and said. Sorry guys, Federer did not really used the N90. He was using a secrete racket we developed for him. However, this time, this K90 is really really what Federer uses.
I guarantee you that sometime in 2009 and 2010, Wilson will realese a racket that is really really really used by Federer. Federer will also "switch" and use that racket.
To Wilson, "Federer's racket" could mean several different things. If they are so careful to protect the evidence that Federer did not use the N90 (see BP's augument), would they give the real Federer racket to a player they do not sponsor and has no obligation not to give away to others? Sampras could easily give the real Federer's racket (painted as a N90) to others to reveal Wilson's lie.
When Wilson released the N90, they said that is Federer's real racket. Sales increased but slowed down after a couple of years.
So Wilson released the K90 and said. Sorry guys, Federer did not really used the N90. He was using a secrete racket we developed for him. However, this time, this K90 is really really what Federer uses.
I guarantee you that sometime in 2009 and 2010, Wilson will realese a racket that is really really really used by Federer. Federer will also "switch" and use that racket.
To Wilson, "Federer's racket" could mean several different things. If they are so careful to protect the evidence that Federer did not use the N90 (see BP's augument), would they give the real Federer racket to a player they do not sponsor and has no obligation not to give away to others? Sampras could easily give the real Federer's racket (painted as a N90) to others to reveal Wilson's lie.
loubapache
Professional
Correct, they do not care because they assume people understand that what a player endorses does not mean a player uses it.
I was referring to the conflicting information/guess/speculation our resident expert on Federer's racket (Breakpoint). He said a few posts earlier
"They are certainly not going to want retail customers to get their hands on them or else people will have physical evidence that Federer never used a real nCode90."
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
That's where you're wrong. Wilson NEVER stated that the nCode90 that Federer was using was THE SAME EXACT racquet that customers can buy in the stores. They did, however, state this about the K90.
When Wilson developed Federer's current racquet they made hundreds of prototypes. There's an interview with Federer somewhere where he talks about helping Wilson develop the K90 and he said he hit with hundreds of prototypes. None of these prototypes have marketing names attached to them. Thus, they can call as many of them "nSix-One Tours" as they want. There's no law that says they can't give two or more prototypes the same name. In the end, Federer chose to use one of the protoypes but Wilson decided to sell a different prototype to the public, thinking the public may like it better, but both are called the "nSix-One Tour". This way they can claim that Federer plays with a "nSix-One Tour" because indeed he does, but it's just not the same "nSix-One Tour" as the one in the retail stores. This is why Wilson was never able to claim that the nSix-One Tour sold in the stores is the same exact racquet that Federer uses. Now that they are finally selling the racquet that Federer chose in 2004 to the public, they've renamed it the K90 and can now state that the K90 sold in the stores is the same exact K90 as Federer uses.
AlpineCadet
Hall of Fame
FYI: There's obviously a lot of comradery here on TTW when it comes to posting replies which seem to back up another person's statements, but whether it's the truth or not is something else all together. We're here to find rational conclusions to what Sampras/Federer are actually using, so don't become offensive when we don't believe you.
Harry_Wild
G.O.A.T.
If I get a K90 tour; I going to paint it black and make it mysterious to everyone.
They will ask me like crazy; is this Roger's racket and my reply will be: "Maybe it is, maybe it not! And smile waliking away!"
Dull black will be the color; just like when Jim Courier played with the PS85 with no Wilson endorsement anymore!
They will ask me like crazy; is this Roger's racket and my reply will be: "Maybe it is, maybe it not! And smile waliking away!"
Dull black will be the color; just like when Jim Courier played with the PS85 with no Wilson endorsement anymore!
RoddickistheMan
Professional
cant be a 95. It has the box beam shape. 95s are round through out. I like sampras' racquet more that k90 paint job still bothers me...what were they thinking.
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
Do you even own a nCode 90?
Because you really need to stop saying that since no one agrees with you. I know what a 95 looks like as I used to play with the PS 6.0 95 and Sampras is NOT using a 95.
Azzurri
Legend
I am only going by what PETE SAMPRAS said in an interview. I provided a link in another (or may be this) thread. What Drakulie said is what was said by PETE SAMPRAS. I don't know what else to tell you. Grass is green are you going to argue this too?
AlpineCadet
Hall of Fame
Well, then this begs the question: If RF and Sampras are actually using the retail k90, then why should Sampras even bother with RF's old nCode paint jobs? He can just easily get those retail k90's at his local sporting goods store. Just a thought.
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
My, oh my. What a short memory we have. And you just read my post below only yesterday:
BTW, why should Sampras buy his K90's with his own money when Wilson is willing to give him dozens or as many as he wants for free? :roll:
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
Why I continue to educate someone like you is beyond me.So I guess Wilson had NO idea about how many rackets RF would need each year. This should explain why Sampras got RF's surplus of the retail k90 rackets painted as the nCode Six-One Tour 90. Makes a lot of sense. :roll:
Federer is the #1 player in the world and has a lifetime contract with Wilson. They would make sure there's a large stockpile of racquets for him so that he can get them whenever he needs them and will never be short of racquets. They never know how many of his racquets could crack, fatigue, be destoryed during stringing, get lost or stolen, get donated away, whatever. Better to be safe than sorry. Don't you see pros smash one or more racquets per match, even paintjobs? They know they can do that because there's essentially an endless supply of them. They don't care if they smash 20 frames a tournament, there's always more.
Federer was probably not the only one getting that paintjob. There are likely some players ranked in the 100 to 1000 range that are sponsored by Wilson that also get the same paintjob. Then there are the sponsored college players, juniors, even senior players. Don't forget that up until this year, Courier was using a paintjobbed PS 6.0 85 supplied to him by Wilson. Believe me, there were a lot more players other than Federer that was getting that nCode paintjob. Sampras is but one of many.
When Wilson went from the PS Tour 90 to the nCode, they had a lot of PS 6.0 85 paintjobbed to look like the PS Tour 90 left over. So many that they gave a lot of them to TW to sell. A lot of people on this board bought them. There are always going to be old paintjobs left over when they switch to a new paintjob because they stockpile so many of them as they never know who or how many will be needed. Wilson is sponsoring new players all the time.
I believe Federer was originally supposed to switch to the K90 paintjob at the '07 French Open, just like he switched to the nCode paintjob from the PS Tour 90 paintjob at the '04 French Open. Thus, Wilson had more than enough nCode paintjobs stockpiled to last well past the French, not just for Federer, but for everyone else that was getting that paintjob. They abruptly changed their release plans perhaps due to competitve pressures or for whatever reason and shipped some racquets to some stores earlier than originally planned in January and had Federer use the K90 paintjob at the Australian Open. This was even before the official launch event that was still scheduled for the last day of February in Las Vegas. Normally, you have the launch event first before making the product available to the consumers. Only the K90 and K95 were made available early. The other K-Factor models would roll out slowly over the next everal months. The K90 would not even be available in Europe until June and the nCode 90 would continue to be sold there until then.
BTW, did you know that Head's factory in Austria is now dedicated ONLY to making racquets for their sponsored players? They make 50,000 frames a year there. Most of these are paintjobs of the PC600, PT630, etc. Now, how many pros do you think Head sponsors that uses these racquets? Divide 50,000 a year by that number and you'll get an idea how many may be left over if they switched to a new paintjob.
Whenever pros switch to a new paintjob, there's usually a huge stockpile left over of the old paintjob. Just ask Agassi.
Sampras refused over and over again Wilson's request that they paint his PS 6.0 85 to look like a newer model during his career. Why? He preferred the conservative look of his all black ProStaff. When they said they were going to make a 90 for him, he said he would only use it if it was "predominantly black". There's no way someone like that would want to use something that looks like a K90, given the choice not to. It would be like Federer showing up at Wimbledon in Nadal's outfit of sleeveless tops and pirate pants. If you think that's likely then I guess you can continue to think Sampras would prefer the K90 paintjob over the nCode paintjob.
AlpineCadet
Hall of Fame
You must be the all-seeing eye from LOTR.
Ultra2HolyGrail
Hall of Fame
is it a fact for you that Sampras is using a retail k90?
Honestly who cares? I did not play with a st.vincent and it did not bother me that it was not a st. vincent. Some want to believe so badly they can buy the EXACT same racquet that fed uses, which probably is not true. Just go get a babolat, you know the top pros use them..
AlpineCadet
Hall of Fame
Try reading through the whole thread. BTW, I agree with you 100%.
Azzurri
Legend
He got them LAST year before the K90 came out. I don't kow why he does not go to a retail store...or maybe he does. You and I don't know. Call Pete yourself with your questions..he will be home any day now. He practices/plays at UCLA twice a week. If you buy yourself a tent you could hang out till you see him. Then you can ask him.
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
Yes, Sampras got his nCode paintjobs from Wilson prior to April 2006 because he was using one during the exhibition against Ginepri at River Oaks in Texas in April 2006, and he was likely practicing with them for a few weeks or even months before that. He also needed them to practice for WTT in the summer of 2006. Thus, at the time, the K90 paintjob did not even exist. Federer was still using the same nCode paintjob and that was the only one available to give to Sampras and thus, that's the one that he got and uses. The K90 paintjob would not be available for at least another 9 months. Since Sampras is not sponsored by Wilson, they might have given him a whole bunch of them with the nCode paintjob in early 2006, but I'm not sure if they'd be willing to give him a whole bunch more with the current K90 paintjob since they still need them right now for Federer and perhaps some other sponsored players that use them. When Wilson gets ready to put out a new paintjob for Federer and other sponsored pros, they might be more willing to give some of the old K90 paintjobs to Sampras at that time since they will soon have no use for them as their sponsored players should be using the most current paintjobs.
Besides, like I mentioned earlier, given Sampras' conservative attitude towards the paintjobs on his racquets, given a choice it's likely he would choose the nCode paintjob over the K90 paintjob anyway. And again, why would he spend $10,000 out of his own pocket to buy 50 retail K90's from a pro shop when he can get 50 of the same racquets but with the nCode paintjob for free from Wilson?
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jcstennis
Hall of Fame
yup, makes sense...
i just wanted to point that out... i live in the Philadelphia area and Pete has been in town a couple of times the past year or so (WTT)... and i've seen him with the nCode PJ (which at first was quite weird, it doesn't look right in Pete's hands
)... so for those who think he just got this stick for the exo... hmmm, probably not.
thanks BP!
i just wanted to point that out... i live in the Philadelphia area and Pete has been in town a couple of times the past year or so (WTT)... and i've seen him with the nCode PJ (which at first was quite weird, it doesn't look right in Pete's hands
)... so for those who think he just got this stick for the exo... hmmm, probably not.thanks BP!
Bubba
Professional
Easy call... count the strings. 16x19. Definitely a 90 and with 4 strings on the PWS = K90 not n90... n90 as 5 strings on the PWS
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No way is that a 90.
Looking at the pics it looks alot like an extended length 95.
Bubba
Professional
Bhagi Katbamna
Legend
Fed'd racket looked smaller than Pete's. It could be a 6.0 95 painted like a n-code.
jcstennis
Hall of Fame
good call... but doesn't Roger have (i guess now Pete) his racquets custom drilled/spaced??? not saying your wrong, thought i heard that somewhere.:neutral:
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
Yes, 4 strings at the PWS was custom drilled for Federer, which is now what's on the retail K90, so you can no longer call it "custom".
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