After a very, very long wait, I finally received my demo of the Ezone Tour! It's strung with PTP yellow 1.25 at 53 pds, and the static weight is 328g with no dampener or overgrip. The balance, which I checked several times, is 32.5 cm, and is almost identical in specs as my DR 98, which really surprised me. I am looking forward to trying out the Tour during the next week, and will share my impressionss next weekend. I have a good feeling about it, because I received a rare under spec sample.
The weather was very good in my area this week, so I was able to play with the Ezone Tour on several different occasions, for a total of 8-9 hours of court time, playing mostly doubles, some singles, and an organized practice. For me, it didn't take very long to get dialed in, and the racquet was exceptional to play with. I also experienced no arm issues, and by the end of the week, I believe I was playing slightly better tennis! Currently, I only have two racquets in my bag, the Wilson Blade v7 98 18x20, and the Yonex Ezone DR98. However, earlier this year, I briefly owned the 2020 Yonex Ezone 98, the Yonex VCore Pro 310, and the 2018 Yonex Ezone Limited Edition.
Compared to the Blade, I thought the Ezone Tour played crisper & heavier, and did many things better, but not in the area of comfort, as the Blade is top notch in that category. With the Ezone Tour, my groundstokes were moving a little quicker, and I felt like I had more control (not sure I believe it yet), which meant I could keep rallies going a little longer. Compared to the DR 98, I think I liked almost everything better, except for maybe touch & feel, where the DR 98 is benchmark good. The Ezone Tour felt like a crisper, heavier, and more stable DR 98, with an equal or better amount of control from the baseline. Serving was about the same for all, but I felt like I was faulting less with the Ezone Tour, particularly on the first serve.
For my game, the Ezone Tour appears to be a very good fit, so I will probably be buying one, but will take my time, because the outdoor season is almost over in my area, and there is one more demo I would like to try. At the 4.0 level, I really don't feel like I need to have more than 2-3 racquets in my bag, so whenever get a new frame, I always try to reduce my inventory by the same amount, so nothing collects dust, and someone else can benefit.
