Racket Review: Prince Tour 98 ESP

 

Originally published on 16/04/14

Arguably the most highly-anticipated racket to emerge from Prince’s revamped range for 2014, the Tour 98 was another frame with boundless potential waiting to be unlocked by players with the ability to do it justice.

Our testers found that total commitment was key – go for your shots and you’ll be rewarded with the type of spin that will send your topspin drives dive-bombing inside the baseline. Drop the racket-head speed for a second, however, and the frame drops into neutral.

That extreme string pattern (or ESP) will keep you in regular contact with your stringer, but beyond that it’s hard to fault a racket that offers so much power and spin without sacrificing touch around the court.

A Ferrari of a frame.

Voted best for power: Not just power, but its ability to ally the MPH with RPM. The spin this frame is capable of delivering without sacrificing power or touch is sensational

To read our advanced racket reviews in full then get your hands on the April 2014 issue of tennishead by subscribing to the print edition or the digital edition via the apple Newsstand. Look out for our intermediate racket reviews in our June 2014 issue, on sale April 24.

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