Iga Swiatek’s Racquet

by TN

Iga Swiatek is the 2020 Roland Garros women’s champion. She didn’t drop a set in a majestic performance. But what is Iga Swiatek’s racquet?

Iga Swiatek had one of those tournaments where everything went right from start to finish. She didn’t even drop many games in her run to her maiden grand slam title. I think a total of 28 games dropped in the tournament and a maximum of 5 games lost in a match. A crazy feat.

Iga Swiatek’s racquet is one of my favorite racquets from 2019, the Prince Textreme Tour 100. I enjoyed the 310 version (check out my review here), while Iga uses the Prince Textreme Tour 290 (link to Amazon, if you buy it a small commission goes to Tennisnerd). Her racquet specs were posted by my friend Andrew from Prospect Customization. I will soon do a podcast with him where we discuss things like pro player specs, swing weights, and other nerdy things.

Iga Swiatek’s Racquet

WTA players often use lighter racquets than on the men’s side. The standard is a 100 sq inch racquet, with a 33 cm balance and a thicker beam. The Pure Drive is like made for the women’s game with a light spec and easy power. Iga doesn’t stay from the norm in racquet specs, but it’s not common to see Prince among the pros these days. Prince doesn’t endorse many pros (Isner is the only one I know of now that Pouille has moved to Babolat).

Her listed strung specs are: 305g, 33.4 cm balance and 324 SW. She uses Prince Tour Xtra Spin 1.25+, not sure what tension though. I think it’s interesting to see players who use the actual racquet (no paint job or anything like that). Prince should be proud of players like Pouille (who used to use the actual Prince Textreme Tour 100P) and Swiatek, who doesn’t need any extra convincing to use their products.

Iga Swiatek’s racquet is up for auction here (thanks Daniel for the tip!).

There is no doubt that Prince make great tennis racquets, but their distribution and marketing works differently from other brands and they can be tricky to get a hold of in some markets. I know for a fact that they have some seasoned racquet designers and technicians in their team and they keep producing high-quality racquets.

But back to Iga. What a performance! Let’s hope she can keep it up!

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8 comments

Hans Hagberg October 11, 2020 - 12:51 - 12:51

Interesting to so how she just blew everyone off the courts. Her opponents clearly had no idea how to play against her. A bit like when Medvedev rose to the top and had an unstoppable win streak. After that, the analysts came up with new game plans and now it looks doable to win against the russian.

In Swiateks case, it looks like it’s mostly her unorthodox forehand that causes the damage. It’s a fast swatting compact swing with extremely late takeback and it seems very hard to anticipate. She plays with more than normal WTA topspin and that adds an extra layer of difficulty.

I speculate that this forehand can be used as a weapon against her. There is a reason we are taught to prepare our strokes as early as possible and extend away from our bodies. By making Iga hit fast balls on the run, her technique will probably show up as a weakness. Perhaps a player like Azarenka on hardcourt that executes down the line shots with consistency will make it happen.

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Johnson October 11, 2020 - 15:30 - 15:30

One hint on the string – earlier this year Swiatek was using a red string, now she seems to be back to black, so it could be a string that is available in both colors.
I wonder if she will go through the typical post-first-slam slump that many young players seem to go through, learning to handle all the media attention and elevated expectations.

I found Pouille’s racquet switch surprising, because the Tour 100P (which I play with) is a soft racquet that places at least as much emphasis with its 18×20 pattern on control as it does on power, while the Pure Drive is a stiff power stick. Normally you would not find those two frames near the top of the same player’s list.

Prince does seem to have poor operational management and distribution. The potential of the company is much higher because I do think that they have some good and differentiated products. The largest tennis goods retailer in my city dropped Prince a few years ago because of poor servicing.

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Tennis Lion October 12, 2020 - 19:31 - 19:31

Most 290g frames have lower SWs (305-315) and are often stiff flexed (>68). Whereas, this has a 324SW and 65 RA off-the-shelf. Very much appears to be a ‘players’ light racket, of which there are few. It would be very interesting to hear a review, perhaps in comparison to some other light but advanced frames like the Dunlop CX200 LS and the Pro-Staff 97L Also considering customisation options if possible.

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Luís Novais Reis October 13, 2020 - 11:09 - 11:09

I play with Prince Textreme Tour 100 ( 290) like Iga and I love it. I had Yonnex, Wilson and Head but came back always for Prince.I have a little bit of tennis elbow and this racquet is perfect but what I like more is its manoeuvering (?). I am a veteran but it it quite easy to quickly have the head where I want (swingweight very good). Prince needs better marketing.

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Daniel October 14, 2020 - 11:05 - 11:05

Iga is most likely playing “Prince Tour Xtra Spin 1.25+”. You can check it if you find the triangular shape of her strings in the pictures! Maybe some test of these strings ???
The rocket is heavy! Below is the link to the charity auction of her rocket:
https://charytatywni.allegro.pl/rakieta-tenisowa-igi-swiatek-i8450101

Regards and I hope I helped a little. I love your videos and reviews. Daniel from Poland

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Tennisnerd October 14, 2020 - 14:48 - 14:48

Thanks Daniel, that helps!

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Woz January 3, 2021 - 13:40 - 13:40

I’ve read Iga is switching to a TF racquet. Do you know if that’s true? If so, which model?

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robert October 11, 2022 - 06:31 - 06:31

prince got the biggest silver platter of a way to rebound the company and somehow managed to drop that ball still

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