Sometimes a new string comes along that makes you smile. Zero from Restring is such a string. Here is my Restring Zero review.

Restring Zero Review

My Restring Zero review started in an unusual way with the founder visiting Marbella, Spain (he lives in Washington, D.C.) to hand-deliver some test sets. Don’t get me wrong, he didn’t come here just to give me some strings to test, but it was a nice coincidence and gave us a chance to meet up.

Juan is one of the co-founders of the company alongside Nick. You can read about the Restring founders on their official website. You can also get a 10% discount on your string purchase with the code TENNISNERD10.

I had heard many good things about Zero, but I am always skeptical going into a play test. There are so many brands that just slap a logo onto an already existing string and call it something new. This is not exciting to me, at all and seems just like a money-grabbing approach or perhaps a fun hobby project.

Restring Zero is, as far as I can tell, a new string, a passion project, and something the founders (high-level players) use themselves. This is the way it should be in my old-fashioned head.

What is Restring Zero?

Zero is a six-sided, or hexagonal, if you want to sound fancy, bright blue polyester string. It is lubricated for more string movement, which is supposed to increase spin potential.

It comes in two different gauges, 1.23 and 1.28. Go thicker for durability and control and thinner for more power and comfort.

I would say it is a medium to soft poly. It plays a bit like Hyper-G and Lynx Tour but feels more comfortable and a little livelier. The comfort level would be around Yonex Poly Tour Pro, in my estimation.

How does it play?

From the first hit, you notice that Restring Zero has an excellent impact feel and sound. The ball leaves the racquet fast and the string offers a pretty good bite. For a relatively comfortable string, it offers good spin potential and tension maintenance. It remains controlled longer than so-called soft poly strings like Hyper-G Soft and Wilson Revolve Spin.

I tried the string with a few different players and in a number of racquets and tensions. HEAD Extreme Tour (1.28), HEAD Radical MP (1.23) Auxetic and Babolat Pure Aero Rafa (1.28).

For more powerful racquets, I prefer a deader, more control-oriented string because I felt like Zero was relatively lively. But I am a player who sometimes doesn’t put enough spin on the ball, so it might just not suit me. Personally, I would use this string to get some more action and power from 18×20 control racquets like my old Prestige MP. For me, it worked absolutely best in the Radical MP. I got good performance, confidence and comfort from it. I feel like it’s a string that would give me enough confidence to take into a tournament, but it might not be my number-one choice due to the slightly lively feel.

Since it’s not a stiff poly, I felt I could string it up to 55 lbs without issues.

Summary

Restring Zero is definitely one of the better recent string tests I’ve done. It looks great and plays great. I think players who want a poly that offers spin potential and tension maintenance and is not to tough on the arm, will find something to like in Restring Zero.

I also like that they give 5% of their profits to sustainability initiatives. I will curiously follow their upcoming strings and progress as a business.

This string is made from 90% recycled PET bottles and other plastic packing materials. But how does it play? Read my Luxilon Eco Power Review.

Luxilon Eco Power Review

Luxilon Eco Power is a 6-sided string (hexagonal) and comes in what I would call PET-green. It’s a pretty cool green that stands out in the racquet. The string is medium firm and is somewhere between 4G and Luxilon Alu Power in stiffness in my estimation. For now, it is only available in 1.25 gauge.

How does it play?

First of all, this is a string I struggle to pinpoint. I feel like it has multiple identities. It is a shaped string, but the spin potential is not that great. The feeling is somewhat dampened, but not overly so. The sound as you strike the ball is pretty good.

Overall, it feels like a middle-of-the-line poly. Nothing is outstanding, but nothing is particularly bad either. It holds tension about average and gives you good control, but without lots of bite on the ball, so if that is what you are looking for, it might not be the string for you.

I think it might depend on what racquet you put it in. I strung it in a few different racquets but tried it most intensely in my 2019 Prestige MP and the first-generation Tecnifibre TF40. The launch angle was pretty low in both racquets, which is great if you want a dependable response.

For a six-sided poly, this is better than many options out there, but I personally prefer the feel and performance of Solinco Hyper-G and HEAD Lynx Tour over this one. I miss that bite that helps the ball dip in at the last second. But I am keen to hear what your experience with Luxilon Eco Power has been, so please comment below.

Summary

It’s great that tennis companies are starting to take the environmental impact of tennis materials (balls and strings) seriously, but although this string is not bad, it doesn’t quite make the cut of a string I’d put in my bag regularly. It does most things well or decent, but I miss the spin potential and a little bit more action from the string. Eco Power felt rather dead to me, which is not what I like in a string.

You can check out Luxilon Eco Power from our friends at Tennis Warehouse, and Tennis Warehouse Europe.

Is Daniel Medvedev’s new string making him play better? Maybe, but does it work for club players? Here is my Tecnifibre Razor Soft Review.

Tecnifibre Razor Soft Review

It is difficult to say, but since he switched from Tecnifibre Razor Code White to the new string Razor Soft, he has won four tournaments and reached one final. After a pro player string change, this kind of performance will perk the ears of the general tennis-playing population.

Despite the name Razor SOFT, this is not a soft string. It offers more pocketing than Razor Code and plays with excellent control, but I would say it is a relatively firm poly.

It is constructed with the same material as Razor Code but with a flexible polyurethane additive at its core to give it better pocketing and feel. In my opinion, the feel is better than Razor Code, so it does its job.

Click here to watch my Tecnifibre Razor Soft video review.

Specifications

Razor Soft only comes in carbon color and the gauges are 1.20, 1.25, and 1.30. Go thicker for more durability and control and thinner for more power and feel. If you want to know more technical stuff about strings and racquets, check out my ebook and course.

Tecnifibre recommends not to string it lower than 22 kg and also writes on their website that it is highly recommended for racquets over 300g. What you can read into this is that this is a string for advanced players.

I tested Razor Soft in a bunch of racquets. The Babolat pure drive 98, Solinco whiteout 18×20 and the Pro staff 97 comes to mind.

Playability

It played with excellent control straight from the bat. It seems to hold tension pretty well. As is standard with most poly strings in my experience, it plays best one hour into the playtest. I tested tensions from 22 kg (49 lbs) in the Whiteout to 24 kg (53 lbs) in the Pure Drives.

In the stiff Pure Drive, it didn’t feel harsh, which is good praise and in the Solinco Whiteout, it offered excellent control.

Is the HEAD Hawk Touch of Tecnifibre? No, it’s not as elastic. This string is pretty firm and dead. It reminded me more of RPM Blast or 4G, but with more comfort.

A firm but not harsh string is the best way to put it. It gave me excellent control on full swings and offered more pocketing than other Tecnifibre polyesters I’ve tried. It is not a spin monster with a massive bite on the ball, but the snapback is good and the string delivers pretty much what you put into it. A very dependable string for big hitters and string breakers since the durability and tension maintenance are both good.

This might become one of my go-to strings. I enjoyed it that much, and the players who tested it alongside me were also impressed with the response.

If you want to check out Razor Soft, do so at our affiliates Tennis Warehouse, Tennis Warehouse Europe and Tennis Only.

I am a fan of Toroline Caviar (check out my review) and got excited to hear about the four-sided Wasabi. Here is my Toroline Wasabi review.

Toroline Wasabi Review

Toroline Wasabi is a square-shaped co-poly string focused on spin potential. It is available in three colors:

• Wasabi Pomegranate Red (1.23MM)
• Wasabi Neon Green (1.23MM/1.25MM)
• Wasabi Neon Pink (1.23MM)

I tested Wasabi Neon Pink in a few different racquets. The Wilson Shift 300, the HEAD Radical MP Auxetic and the Furi Arma Pro 98. My tensions hovered around 23-24 kg or 51-53 lbs.

How does it play?

This string is relatively soft for a shaped string, and playing it in different racquets also informed me about the string sensitivity of the various racquets. In the Shift, it played brilliantly. It accentuated the spin and gave me excellent control. The neon pink also looked pretty funky in the pearl white Shift racquet.

On the other hand, it felt a little plasticky (possibly not a word) in the Radical. I think that is more the racquet that is very string sensitive. It still played with good spin and control but felt a little stiffer in the Radical than in the Shift.

Wasabi was also great in the Furi Arma Pro 98. It was actually so good that my father has switched to this setup in his Furi’s. It feels good on the arm, has decent pocketing, and provides good spin potential. It might not be the string for you if you want max control, as the string is a little lively, but at 53 lbs, I thought it played with enough control in my game.

By Category

Tension maintenance I would say is around average. It’s not bad, but not much better than other polyester strings in the category.

Spin potential is excellent. The ball seems to dip in over and over again. I felt like the more open string patterns worked better in this respect.

Comfort is very good. I had no issue with it in any of the racquets. I think Toroline’s poly are generally arm-friendly co-polys.

Control is good. It’s a softer poly, so it can’t compete with stiffer strings in the control category, but compared to other softer poly strings, it’s great.

Feel is good, nothing outstanding, but as expected.

Overall, I really like this string. Not sure if it beats Caviar for me, I just loved the feel of that string, which is perhaps a tiny bit softer still. But the tension maintenance and control seem slightly better with Wasabi.

Another strong competitor from Toroline. Definitely a brand worth checking out. Sadly, they don’t seem available easily in Europe from distributors. They seem to be sold exclusively through their website.

Tennis players always look for the latest and greatest equipment to give them an edge on the court. So what about Luxilon Eco Power?

Luxilon Eco Power

Luxilon, a leader in the tennis string industry, has created Luxilon Eco Power with sustainability in mind. The string is made with upcycled nylon, meaning it’s created from waste material (a combination of 90% recycled PET bottles and other plastic packing materials) that would otherwise end up in landfills. This makes Eco Power an environmentally friendly option for players who want to reduce their carbon footprint.

Eco Power has a hexagonal shape with grippy edges for extra spin. The string is ranked as medium on the firmness scale and is not for players with a tennis elbow history, but for hard-hitting attackers.

You can compare it to strings like Solinco Hyper-G and HEAD Lynx Tour.

I have a few test sets of this string in Spain and will start testing it when I return from Malta. I talk about this string in my recent Mixed bag video because I also have loads of other gear to test besides this string.

But I am curious if a sustainability-themed string can meet playability demands. If you have tried Eco Power, please feel free to comment on your experiences below.

You can check out Luxilon Eco Power at Tennis Warehouse and Tennis Warehouse Europe. If you use my links to purchase anything, Tennisnerd gets a small commission at no extra cost to you. If you want discounts with specific brands or products, check out our Tennisnerd Deals page.

Upcoming reviews

Besides Eco Power, I also have the following upcoming reviews:

Nike Vapor Tour 9.5 returns
Wilson Burn V5
Tecnifibre Razor Soft
Nike Vapor 11
Lacoste AG 23
Solinco Whiteout 18×20
Toroline Wasabi
Grapplesnake Neon Dust
Babolat Pure Drive 98

And probably more stuff that I forget at the moment.

Stay tuned! And make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for daily videos.

Today we have a guest review from Stefan Kornitzky, a fellow tennis nerd from Germany. He has written a Babolat RPM Team Review.

Babolat RPM Team Review

I have been using the black Babolat RPM TEAM string (link to check it out at Tennis Warehouse Europe) in my 2021 Babolat Pure Drive for quite a while now. In addition to black color, the string is also available in blue and pink and in 1.25 or 1.30 mm – diameters. However, I only tested and played the black 1.25 mm version.

The Setup

I have been using the Babolat Pure Drive rackets (100 sq. inch, 300 g) since I started playing tennis 18 years ago. I use the newest racket version in its black and blue shades and had it customized to 310 g, 31.9 cm balance and 297 swing weight (unstrung). I string the RPM TEAM using a Gamma X-ELS machine, usually at 24/23 kg. My playing style is very aggressive, with lots of topspin, fast swings, and a single-handed backhand. I am rated 3.5 in the German tennis performance ranking (so-called “Leistungsklasse”), which is quite ok, I guess.

The String

Due to Nadal’s success, Babolat’s RPM (short for “rotations per minute,” a.k.a. SPIN) – string line is quite well known. However, most of the time, people talk about RPM Blast, RPM Rough or RPM HURRICANE when mentioning Babolat’s monofilament strings. As I am stringing my rackets, I tried out all these options but stuck with the less often mentioned RPM TEAM for quite some time now. Why?

First, I like the black color because it looks great with the Pure Drive and a white logo stenciled onto the string bed. But the look, of course, would be the same with e.g. black RPM BLAST. Second, and quite obviously I like the way the string plays. Babolat endorses the string as being eight-sided, more flexible and more comfortable as compared to other poly strings because of enclosed micro-air-bubbles. Additionally, the company markets it as durable. When comparing it to other eight-sided strings like the Gamma Ocho, you almost do not notice the shape. Threading RPM TEAM through your fingers gives you the impression and feeling of a round string, making it easy to string and weave. So, in my opinion, RPM TEAM’s octagonal shape is not that pronounced and certainly less pronounced than GAMMA OCHO’s.

Playing

When playing with a newly-strung full bed of RPM TEAM I basically like everything about it. I get a lot of acceleration and spin on each ball. You can feel the somewhat softer material, and, in my estimation, this makes the string more arm-friendly, more explosive and at the same time gives you good feedback from the ball.

As the Pure Drive is known for being quite stiff, the more elastic and softer string fits the setup like a treat. Yet, despite being a bit softer than RPM BLAST, RPM TEAM does not lean into the RPM SOFT-like direction of being mushy. Thus, I do not miss control when hitting heavy. The sound, which in my opinion differs between and matters quite a lot when testing different strings, is also nice (at least to my ears ????). The playability is great for several hours of play until you feel the tension drop and the string starts to move across the string bed.

I can also confirm Babolat’s characterization of RPM TEAM being durable. Usually, I break strings regularly due to heavy spin. However, I can use RPM TEAM in 1.25 mm-diameter significantly longer as compared to e.g. RPM BLAST in 1.20 mm- or RPM SOFT in 1.25mm-diameters until the string breaks. Usually, you observe the string wearing thin at the intersection of mains and crosses in the sweet spot for some time until the string finally snaps.

Downsides

I’d like to say: None in my setup. The only slight “disadvantage” (only for me due to stringing on my own) is the durability. I – believe it or not – like strings to break quite soon, because then I can use a freshly-strung racket again. Thus, I would love it if Babolat offered RPM TEAM in a thinner gauge. However, 1.25 mm is the lowest available.

Summary

Babolat’s RPM-range is quite well known to tennis enthusiasts around the world. In my opinion, RPM TEAM is probably the most underrated and under-used string of the RPM line-up. I like it being a bit softer and more explosive than other monofilaments (like RPM BLAST) and would recommend RPM TEAM for stiffer frames and players with fast swings looking for a lot of speed and spin. The price tag at about 110 Euro for a 200 m-reel is also reasonable.

Thanks Stefan for this excellent review! /TN

Let’s have a closer look at some new MSV Strings! They tend to offer quality products and Buzzard and Swift are not exceptions.

New MSV Strings – Bussard and Swift

MSV is a string brand that needs no further introduction. They have been offering a large selection of tennis products for many years and currently carry about 130 high-performance strings in various materials, profiles, gauges and colors. The entire spectrum of benefits e.g., power, spin, control, comfort and durability, is covered to meet the needs of ATP /WTA players and beginners. I know several pro players that use MSV strings recreational players due to the quality you get for the price point. That is why I was keen to test a few new MSV strings, Bussard and Swift.

I have previously tested several MSV products because I was always attracted to their price point and the positive feedback they got on string forums and among high-level players. You can check out some of my reviews here:

MSV Go Max String Review
MSV Focus Hex Ultra (I have used this one quite a lot as it is dependable and a bit softer than the most popular Focus Hex)

 MSV Bussard

These are the specifications of the MSV Bussard string, according to the MSV website. (Click the link to go there).

PLAYER PROFILE

Ideal for intermediate to advanced players attacking the ball with full swing and topspin.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS
•    A crisp monofilament co-poly string with high control and spin potential.
•    Special additives provide very good tension maintenance and durability.
•    Made in Germany

RECOMMENDED TENSION 20-24 kg / 44-53 lbs (reference medium gauge and midsize racquet).

LENGTH 12m/39ft

DIAMETER/GAUGE AVAILABLE 1.20mm/17 and 1.25mm/16L and 1.30mm/16

How does MSV Bussard play?

I strung up the MSV Buzzard in my Wilson Blade 98 pro stock at 23 kg or 51 lbs, and straight away from the first hit, I felt confident in my shots, while the string didn’t feel harsh on my arm. It reminded me of something that lands in between RS Lyon and Luxilon Alu Power. It is perhaps a tad softer than Alu. Unsure if it is the additives or something else. The snapback is good. The string happily jumps back into place after impact.

This is perhaps not a soft poly in the style of the more powerful MSV Hepta Twist or the Swift (which we will get to below), but a dependable option for big strikers who like round strings. I think this is an excellent option in a hybrid setup, for example. The round and coated string won’t cut into the gut or multifilament string, and the additive will make it move easier for spin potential.

Sadly, I only had one test set so I couldn’t try it in a hybrid, but after many years of testing strings and racquets, my gut feeling (no pun intended) is that it would work well as such.

In a full bed, I enjoyed this one. I am a fan of round strings, and this one competes well with the likes of Alu Power, Hawk Power, RS Lyon and Top Spin Cyberflash.

Tension maintenance was slightly better than Alu, and more similar to RS Lyon. Big top spin hitters will break it after a few hours, but they break everything after a few hours! :)

In short, a nice round co-poly string with solid durability and excellent control.

MSV Swift

This is a softer string that I strung up and enjoyed in the Wilson Shift 300. These are the specifications of the MSV Swift string, according to the MSV website. (Click the link to go there).

PLAYER PROFILE

Ideal for players who look for an arm-friendly, well-balanced co-poly string.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS

A complex mix of 6 different materials is processed in 3 steps to produce a very soft, monofilament co-poly string with a high level of comfort.

Compared to other co-polyester strings with a similar characteristics profile (such as the Luxilon Alu Power), the MSV SWIFT offers above-average comfort (+10% points), tension stability (+8% points), power (5% points) and control (3% points, all values come from racketpedia.com). The absolute value for control is 95%.

The round shape of the MSV SWIFT makes it a good choice for hybrid stringing.

The MSV SWIFT was tested by 20 players (members) of the European Stringers Association (ERSA). The result has now been published in the Pro Stringer Magazine (Nov. 2022). A clear recommendation is given for the string. It scores above average in almost all important parameters.

It is recommended for normal and narrow string bed patterns. Pre-stretch is not necessary.

Made in Austria

RECOMMENDED TENSION

20-24 kg / 44-53 lbs (ref: medium gauge and midsize racquet).

LENGTH

12m/39ft

VARIANTS AVAILABLE

1.25mm/16L and 1.30mm/16

How does MSV Swift play?

Another round string, this time softer than Bussard. Still, despite putting it in the 99 sq inch Shift, I did not lack control with MSV Swift at 23.5 kg (52 lbs). I thought it would lose tension relatively quickly since it felt soft on impact, but I got eight hours of pretty hard-hitting from it before I started to see signs that it was time to restring.

Despite the thick beam and powerful frame, I felt I could get enough control and spin to get the ball to land in. This quickly became my favorite MSV string to date. I loved the sound when striking the ball with this string. I don’t hit as hard as some of my high-level hitting partners, but with this combination of Shift and Swift, I felt I could do some damage.

I had a few of my friends try this string setup as well, and they loved it. A soft round, yet spin and arm-friendly string, what’s not to like?

Most white strings like Wilson Revolve or even Tecnifibre Ice Code are nice, but seem to drop tension quickly. I was worried about MSV Swift in a relatively open patterned racquet, but it worked well!

I enjoyed both MSV Bussard and Swift, but this was the winner for my game. Very impressed by MSV Swift and hope to try it in other racquets in the future.