I think Donnay produced the Pro One as close to the Prince Original Graphite 107 as they could (flex, swing weight.. etc), just to pacify Agassi to use it. At least Agassi captured his 1st Grand Slam at Wimbledon with it 😊
First ever racket I bought back in the late 1990s was a Donnay Super Comp Graphite 100 with a 16x20 string pattern. Didn't know much about rackets in those days but later discovered Bjorn Borg used to play with a Donnay in the '70s.
Was really surprised at how big the selection of Prince racquets they had in Japan. Very popular and models I had never seen, was really interesting could have visit Windsor Racquet shop even more than I did haha! Great video.
@tripp5576 agreed. Probably a good thing I had limited space to bring back racquets. There were several Prince models I was interested in. I just didn't have the space to bring more back.
@@returntotennis706 I went to Thailand after and played in Samui and my Coach that I play with there wanted 2 Ezones so that took up room hahaha. I got the 2 Regna 98s and another Vcore 95 in the sand beige which is what I've been playing with. 5 racquets 😂 the staff was wondering what the hell was happening. Plus a ton of string. Great place though, can't wait to go again. Wanna get the phantom graphite 97 315g that's only there in Japan. That shop is dangerous 😂
Awesome video, so cool to see those old Donnay classics again. BTW I went to Shibuya Windsor tennis shop and found 2 Regna 98s, was blown away they had 2. Very interesting racket to hit, different but feels incredible. Looking forward to the next video!
I just love the paint jobs on those Donnays. I've got a Tournament pro 2, G.Perez Raldan. It has a nice pinky/orange and grey paint scheme. It plays really nice but strangely is about a half inch shorter than a regular racquet?
Dude, what’s with the gear talk, at your level now, you either stick with a 95 and work on every aspect of your game till you’re good enough to go easy on yourself, which will probably take you 5-7 years, or you just go with a clash 100 and save your body man, I’d much prefer you spending money on guts as mains, it will provide feel, comfort with 4g soft in the cross, hit them daily till they break as they are that consistent. The worst words are saved till last, no one will value your opinion on gears as you’re not experienced to rely any minute differences. Dude, I say this as a stringer who went through 27 different racquets and still didn’t hit 4.5 in 5 years, don’t fall into the gear trap, every racquet will need at least a few months to adjust to, during which they’re just messing up your technique.
ma come si fa a pensare di dare un giudizio ad una racchetta se non si riesce nemmeno a colpire 2 palle consecutive provenienti da una lanciapalle....questo non sa proprio di cosa sta parlando
Same thing for my Slinger tennis ball machine. The switch gets super dirty from dust and tennis ball fuzz. Make sure to flip the switch multiple times and use air duster to clean out all the dirt debris and tennis balls
Great cool info. on the Boris range of rackets. This is the first time I knew and heard all of the historic and details on his favourite racket. What surprised me the most you have all his racket from PUMA, ESTUSA and HEAD and you even played them to give us the reviews, great!!. What I remembered Boris also produces his own lines of racket with his signature serving logo on it. Do you have / had them? TQ 😊
@quakeranger he did! Initially I think it was in collaboration with Volkl and then he had entire line of Boris Becker racquets. I have 1 Boris Becker racquet in my collection, the Delta Core London Tour. A little heavy, 93 sq in. very control oriented and comfortable. But it really is lacking in the power department, still a fun racquet though.
Interesting vid - I picked up the same Pure Strike for $30 off eBay the other month as a back up frame and it plays (for a 98) like a 100 with a massive sweet spot. Nice flex and comfortable on my tender elbow! 😂
Nice to see this racket being used again. I loved the idea of it when I was a teenager but had Prince and a Pro Staff (1985). I still play often and to decent standard of ‘hitting’ not competition. Have been using a Prince OSG 107 for the last few years and have only just switched to a new Yonex 97 Percept - so far it is very impressive. Lots of feel and control. Reminds me of thin beam rackets. Where are you based out of curiosity?
@user-ej6xk4ql5j I have yet to hit a Prince OG, I'm keeping my eye out hoping to catch one at a bargain. I really enjoy the ultra flex of old 80s and 90s racquets, but I often find them too heavy for extended play, still fun to hit once in a while though. I've been currently hitting a Yonex Ezone 98 and a Prince Tour 95 310g from Japan. My arm likes those better. I'm based in Ohio. Thanks for watching!
Awesome video as usual, I am heading to Tokyo in September and excited to racket shop, obviously will look for a Regna. I picked up some great rackets in the last 6 months, I snagged a Volkl C10 Pro Tour and a Volkl Pro 30 T and the latter is probably the best racket I've ever hit, the C10 Pro Tour is incredible as well. Any recommendations for Japan tennis wise? Looking forward to future videos.
There are a lot of Prince racquets that are not offered here in the U.S., so if you like Prince your in luck. You can also come across some really interesting frames at 2nd hand shops like Tennis Support center . Regna was hard to come by. I could find Regna 100, but not the 98, which is what I really wanted. You'll have a great time.
Not a good AD for your ball machine. Mine clogs too though. I was playing 27.5-inch racquets for a while, mostly to get the swing weight UP without adding lead. My target SW is 320 and much higher and I cannot serve as fast or I mishit balls. Back to 27-inch for me. I play with a 313 SW now and rarely late on a ball.
I have not. I've hit extended Diadem Nova, Head Radical tour XL and a Yonex RD70 Long. To be honest I'm not a fan of extended frames. I've tried several and always found them a little off in how they for me. Although I would love to get my hands on one of Diego Schwartzman's racquets.
Interestimg how back in the 80's/90's regular folks were ok swinging racqueta weights that only pro's play with now. The secret 04 that i remember had a matte textured black paintjob on it that few other racquets have had since then
@TheJstaples I regularly played those frames in my younger days. Now it's a bit too much weight for me to play for extended periods. I hover in the 335g range now, anything lighter feels off.
Hi Aaron I am new subscriber, and I am still playing with the Wilson Profile 95 and I am switching to the Wilson Blade 98 Vs6. I remember the Fox Racquets and I haven’t seen one of those Racquets in decades my friend. Great video my friend.
Very cool, great find! I had this racquet and played with it as a teenager, it was a grey F200 model complete with Mats Wilander's signature as part of the paintjob! It was very flexible and soft and felt almost similar to a wood racquet I also had at the time. Ultimately it was too heavy for me and I switched to a Prince with a larger sweet spot. Also, I don't think the inverted bridge design made the sweet spot any larger, it was pretty small. Amazing how well Wilander/Lendl/Sampras played with these frames with small sweet spots.
I've got a red star big and a white star masters. The red star big I have is unbelievably heavy, 400 grams with the original leather grip, it is a beautiful maroon red colour. The head size is quite a bit bigger than the master, maybe 95-96 inches? It is fun to hit with but just so heavy. It is a 4 and 5/8th grip size, so I'm thinking that the bigger grip size models might have been heavier? I'd love to get a white star big that is lighter. Thankyou for the video, really enjoyed it.
400g is insane! I don't think the grip size has anything to do with the weight. I get the feeling that they produced the same model at a couple different weights. Other manufacturers of the time did this as well. I'm glad you enjoyed. More vintage racquet videos coming this summer!
@@returntotennis706 Like you, one of my favourite racquets was the Estusa power beam, probably played my best tennis with one, which I still own. I have also been wanting to try one of the Estusa supra M3 oversize sticks. They still have the nice egg shape head I like, but head looks quite big. If you have one of them in your collection, I'd love to see a review.
@@returntotennis706 I have the Pure Aero VS. I'm convinced you'd like it. I'd love a prestige but you've got to be on the money with your strokes and footwork to make it work for you.
Actually I found newly produced Kneissl rackets in a tennis shop in Shibuya, Tokyo this year. I guess someone must have bought the brand name and brings it back to the (at least japanese) market. Pretty expensive though, otherwise I may have given it a try. They have a very unique look as well, worth to look it up.
I've seen those. They're produced by Gosen. I think Gosen paid Kneissl a licensing fee to use the name, so not true Kneissl, but intriguing nonetheless. I might pick one up, haven't decided yet. I'm hoping to find some 2010 White, Red, Black stars in the thrift stores while I'm there.
As I understand it, Adidas did buy the mold from Kneissl as part of the endorsement deal. But they wouldn't have a factory ready for 3 more years, so Kneissl continued to make the frames and paint them as Adidas
