The Wilson ProStaff is one of the most recognisable rackets in tennis, favoured by legends such as Roger Federer and Pete Sampras.
The racquet brings to tennis players a distinct, smooth feel, fine-tuned for attacking, all-court tennis. But if you want to stand out from the crowd, the market for high-quality tennis rackets is bigger than ever, and there are a few frames out there that bring the same characteristics to tennis.
Dunlop CX200 Tour 18x20:
To understand why the Dunlop CX200 Tour makes this list, we first need to know what makes a ProStaff, a ProStaff. While there are many factors present, a major one that is difficult to get around has been there since the very first iteration of the ProStaff in 1984:
The frame construction composing of a continuous, double braid of graphite and Kevlar fibres. This double braided construction plays a huge part in the unique feel of the ProStaff line and importantly for this recommendation, also features in this specific line of Dunlop rackets.
The CX200 range is made up of lower-powered, control-orientated rackets, for all-court players who can comfortably generate their own power – with the Tour 18x20 being the heaviest racket in the range at 315 grams unstrung.
This makes it a relatively challenging racket, not only because of the mass, but also the very dense 18x20 pattern in the relatively small headsize of 95 square inches limits access to spin somewhat, in comparison to the more open 16x19 pattern in the 97 square inch ProStaff. Thankfully, a 16x19 version of the CX200 Tour exists, and it is also five grams lighter.
Prince Phantom Pro 93P:
The Prince Tennis brand is largely associated with the lightweight, easy-to-swing “player improvement” rackets, but the Phantom Pro line could not be further removed from this concept. The Phantom Pro series pays homage to the legendary Prince Original Graphite rackets, which have their roots in the earliest days of carbon rackets – even pre-dating the first Wilson ProStaff.
Like the Original ProStaff 85, the Graphite 90 was made for advanced players seeking a precision instrument, and this carries over to the latest Phantom Pro 93P. At 330 grams unstrung, the Phantom Pro 93P is not a light racket by any means, but it adds to the plush feel and “plough-through” hitting that the RF97 ProStaff also offers, whilst still providing the stability and comfort of a modern racket.
While there is an 18x20 variant of the 93P, I recommend the very open 14x18 pattern that was also featured on the early POG rackets, for the massive spin access and higher launch angle. In addition to the 93P, the Phantom Pro line also features more contemporary 100 square inch headsizes with lighter specifications, that maintain a similar feel. Interestingly, older Prince frames manufactured before the 2000s labelled as a 90 square inch headsize are actually 93, likely because 93 square inches is equal to 600 square centimetres, which may have been an easier number for the engineers to work with.
Wilson Blade 98:
Fundamentally, the Wilson Blade line features rackets with a construction of braided graphite and basalt – a fibre with similar characteristics as the Kevlar that features in the ProStaff. In short, this means the Blade line can be equated as Wilson’s “modern” take on the ProStaff – an all-court, plush-feeling racket, albeit with the benefit of not being based directly on the original 1980s design.
Perhaps the strongest piece of evidence for this is found in some of the professional players who choose to play with the Wilson Blade. Stefanos Tsitsipas, who idolised Roger Federer, wields a Blade 98 today; and another famous Wilson Blade user, Milos Raonic, was a such a big fan of ProStaff purist Pete Sampras, that he made sure to videotape all of his idol’s matches.
While it might not be an exact match for the ProStaff, the Wilson Blade is better suited to the modern game, and is perhaps the superior racket today. The Version 8 Blade line launched recently to critical success, and these rackets continue to be one of Wilson’s most popular tennis products at all levels of the sport.
0 Comments