In this article, we’ll take a look at a few of the top tennis racquet brands and provide some background you can use to help evaluate each brand.
1. Babolat
As the inventor of tennis string, Babolat is an enduring brand that has developed an extremely loyal following for its racquets across multiple racquet sports, including tennis, badminton, and, more recently, paddle.
Moreover, with the success of players such as Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick, Babolat’s popularity has grown significantly in recent years, solidifying its reputation with both highly competitive and recreational players.
Founded: 1875
Country of origin: France
Technologies: Aero modular, Woofer, Aero Beam, Cortex, Graphite Tungsten technology, Cortex Active Technology
2. Wilson
A renowned American company, Wilson has its roots in the meatpacking industry, where they used animal byproducts to create some of the company’s first sporting goods, including natural gut tennis strings.
Wilson’s legacy has continued with players such as Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and the Williams sisters helping their racquet brand reach a whole new level of status. Not surprisingly, the brand is best known for its Pro Staff line, having been used by Sampras and currently in use by Federer.
Founded: 1913
Country of origin: United States
Technologies: Triad with ISO.Zorb, Hypercarbon, Hammer, Karophite Black, Kontour Yoke, Kompact Centre, BLX, Amplifeel, Spin Effect Technology, Parallel Drilling
3. Head
With headquarters in Kennelbach, Austria, and Amsterdam, Netherlands Head was founded in 1950 in Delaware. Laying claim to having developed the first oversized metal tennis racquet, Head is another industry-leading brand in multiple racquet sports, including tennis, racquetball, and badminton.
Thanks to the success of Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, Head became increasingly popular in the ’90s, and today players like Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Maria Sharapova have continued to help build the Head racquet brand as a critical player in the market.
Founded: 1950
Country of origin: United States
Technologies: Liquid Metal, Integrated String Dampener, Total Sweetspot Construction, Titanium Tennis, Twin Tube, NoShox Dampening System, MicroGel, d3o, Innegra, Graphene, Dynamic String Pattern
4. Prince
Founded in 1970, Prince helped revolutionize the sport of tennis with the very first tennis ball machine with a reversed vacuum cleaner.
Since then, Prince has become an increasingly popular brand with arguably the height of its success hitting in 1995 when the Prince Longbody Michael Chang Signature tennis racquet became the No. 1 tennis racquet in the world.
In addition to the wildly popular success of the Longbody, players like Patrick Rafter, Jennifer Capriati, and the winningest doubles team ever, the Bryan brothers have helped carry the Prince legacy.
Founded: 1970
Country of origin: United States
Technologies: EXO3, Grommets, O3 Speedspot technology, O3 technology, Triple Braid, Tungsten Triple Threat, GraphiteExtreme, Sweet Spot Suspension, Cross Bar Stabilizer, Double Bridge, Longbody, ESP
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