Which is the best-looking Tennis racquet?

For me, it's the RQIS 1 Tour.

ivyhs7.jpg
 
Babolat Pure Strike might be a competitor.

I know I am biased, but I think the simple blue paint job of the Head Graphene Instinct is beautiful.
 
Tennisspieler said:
A. Black racquets:

1. Wilson 2013 Blades
2. Donnay Pro Ones
3. Pro Kennex 2013 Black Aces
4. Pro Kennex QTour

I tend to favour black as the main/basic colour in Tennis racquet design, which is why I would like to dedicate one category especially to cool-looking black racquets.

I think the new 2013 Wilson Blades are really beautiful with their clean, glossy black paint job and their elegant, thin beam. The Donnay Pro Ones come close behind, they look terrific as well, very classy. Only matter is the quality of the paint, which many Donnay users report to chip off easily. The Pro Kennex 2013 Black Aces and the QTour look fantastic as well, yet in my opinion the yellow elements somehow damage the otherwise beautiful look of the frames.
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You should take a look at the Dunlop AG4D100: lots of black with thin, gold stripe accents, plus a thin 19 mm box beam.

Black and gold makes a very classy and elegant color combination.
 
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alpinenut said:
HYLEP-1.jpg


How can you not go with the Limited Edition Prestige Midplus. So clean with the black paint job.
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Really nice paintjob. Not too loud yet noticable enough with the subtle details (modest branding, white strips with red stripe inside hoop, etc.). TAKE NOTE WILSON.
 
hoodjem said:
You should take a look at the Dunlop AG4D100: lots of black with thin, gold stripe accents, plus a thin 19 mm box beam.

Black and gold makes a very classy and elegant color combination.
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The reason why I never bought the 4D100 was because I thought the paintjob was fugly. In contrast, the Bio 100 (green Euro version) is one of the most gorgeous paintjobs of all time, IMO. :)
 
Ok guys, lots of new racquets out there already: New Princes released, Heads and Babolats revealed, so it’s about time to see which frames stand out this year as far as cosmetics are concerned!

As said in my OP, I have a certain weakness for black racquets, a love that I seem to share with many on this board. Obviously this is a good season if you prefer darker frames, as the trend apparently is going in that direction.

My current favs are:

Head YOUTEK Graphene Speed Pro Limited Editon – A very obvious choice. Beautiful racquet, all black, nice combination of matte paint with some glossy elements. Cool stealthy look.

Völkl Organix V1 Pro Midplus – Georgeous paint job. Black with silver lettering. Looks even better in person, Völkl’s craftsmanship is superb and probably only matched by Yonex and Pacific.

Prince Response 97 – I love the vintage look of that classic. Great matte black PJ with thin red and white lines to mark the shape of the the frame. I’ve always liked it when racquets have those thin lines painted on the edge of the beam, like on these classic Wilson Pro Staffs for example.

Prince Classic Graphite Series – Another great comeback of a timeless design by Prince. As always, it’s a pleasure to look at the POGs.

Babolat Pure Strike – Very cool matte black PJ with dazzling neon red lettering – just striking! Not so sure about the red grommets though, I wish they were black - IMHO, their bright colour takes away too much of the racquet’s “blackness”. However, great looking frame. Love watching Tsonga swinging this racquet.

Solinco deserves some credit for the new Protocol Series. The bright lime green elements look really sharp on these racquets. Makes me wonder why not more manufacturers use green design elements. The Dunlop Biomimetic 400 Tour for example always looked awesome with its black/chrome/green PJ. I think it looks way better than the yellow or orange that has featured so prominently on many frames in recent years.



Like many, I was a bit disappointed if not shocked when I first saw the new Head Radicals. Too many bright colours, to much of a “Look at me I am a reincarnation of the 1980s”-attitude for me. Maybe over the time the design will grow on me, don’t know yet. This at least is happening WRT the new Prestiges. First I hated the red caps, now I am beginning to see them as a welcome change.

Back in 2012 I was staring at the first pictures of the Wilson Juice 100 and the Steam 100 in utter disbelief. I thought that the PJ of both racquets was hideous and a joke. Looking at the newer releases of Wilson in 2013, the cosmetics of their racquets are a growing concern to me. The Steams, the new Six.Ones, the new Pro Staffs, they all look quite ugly IMHO. Wilson’s design department seems to not only lack taste, they seem to be a bit lazy as well, giving an almost identical PJ to two different racquet lines, the Six.Ones und the Pro Staffs. The beautiful Blades really stand out in the current Wilson racquet line-up, hope they are rather following down this path in the near future.

No new releases from Donnay yet, but the Pro One 97 continues to be one of my favourite racquets out there (btw ChicagoJack: I love your P1 collection. The clear lacquer treatment looks awesome!)


So, these are my first initial thoughts about the new sticks. What do you make of it? Which are your favourite racquets at the moment? Which design departments would you hire or fire (just kidding)? Is there some love for vintage frames as well?
 
^^Another thoughtful post by Tennisspieler. The Speed Pro Ltd Edition takes its cue from the 25th Anniversary Prestige (as I'm sure you're aware) and should be seen as the frontrunner for "Best Stealth PJ". I wish also designers would leave parts of a racket well alone and free of busy text or decals. Not every beam or side of a racket need be adorned by branding or specs writ large. Unfortunately it seems beam-creep is solely for the purpose of extra branding space.
I think bright, lustrous blues a la PT630 are due for a comeback?
 
Oh yes please!
Bring back the lustrous colours, blue is nice, green also (if it is of a darker ilk), and use them lavishly :)
 
The Dunlop Biomimetic line, its neither too flashy ( APD) or too boring ( Pro Staffs). Just sleek and modern looking.

The newer Dunlops are too country club looking to me.
 
Prince Original Graphite, Rossignol F-200, Wilson T-2000, Rossignol Strata.

Nothing today compares to the classics!!!

TripleB
 
I'll always be a huge fan of the nCode Six-Ones. The deep red shine of the Pro Kennex Redondo is also one of my favorites.
 
I really like the Ltd racquets. I love the look of the TFight 315 Ltd. I love the new Speed Pro Ltd. I am a big fan of how the leather grip looks on racquets. I also like HEAD's Prestige MP Ltd.

A few others - Youtek IG Radicals, Youtek IG Prestiges, and the Volkl V1 MP (love the brown for some reason).

As for whole lines, I love the TFight line look from Tecnifibre. I also think Dunlop has done a nice job with the Biomimetic frames...good continuity from frame to frame.

As for new ones, the upcoming Pure Strike is the best looking PJ I have seen on a Babolat.
 
Nobody has brought up the 2010 pj of the Yonex Ultimum RD Ti80. The glossy black on the frame with a touch of orange and red with any black poly is just so beautiful.
 
Pro Staff 6.0 85
Muscle Weave 200G
Ti Radical with CAPs
Tour Diablo
Prestige IG 25th Anniversary Edition
Pure Drive Roddick Cortex
2013 AeroPro Drive
 
For me it has to be the Head Pro Tour 630 and then the Head PC600 Silver version with green grommets.

The new Prince Response 97 Paint Job is awesome also.
 
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
It's a very loud racquet. You better have the game to back it up because it just screams "LOOK! LOOK! LOOK AT ME! PAY ATTENTION TO THIS COURT!" from a distance.
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You know, looking at the pics in the post above yours, I was thinking the exact same thing.

There is no subtlety with that racquet at all.
 
Team10 said:
This racquet looks great IMO, graphene speed pro ltd

2mfwwwh.jpg
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Why? This is a very boring racquet. And to those that think the Pure Strike is loud, why? I almost hate reading threads like this because it's odd for me to see how many guys prefer lame @$$ paint jobs.
 
thejuice said:
Why? This is a very boring racquet. And to those that think the Pure Strike is loud, why? I almost hate reading threads like this because it's odd for me to see how many guys prefer lame @$$ paint jobs.
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Well for one, the word "strike" couldn't be made any bigger. And in that shade of red, it does seem to be screaming it's name.

And dude, relax. Just because someone thinks a racquet design you like is loud, there's no need to assume what they like is "lame a@@". :roll:
 
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