HEAD Graphene Touch Prestige Archives

A lot of racquetholics and racquet collectors think vintage/older HEAD racquets are about the best on the market with their flexible response and great touch. Will they ever bring them back?

If you talk to people who are into tennis racquets, you’d be pretty sure they have a certain affinity for racquets pre-Graphene. Quite a large number of tennis professionals play with some kind of HEAD pro stock racquet based on an older model. One of the most legendary examples is Andy Murray who uses the 20 year-old racquet HEAD Pro Tour 630 in an open string pattern (pro stock code PT57A2), but there are many. Marin Cilic for example uses a TGK 231.3 (which is a Microgel Radical in an open string pattern, but he still endorses the new Graphene Touch Prestige series).

There are Graphene racquets I like, like the first edition of the HEAD Graphene Radical Pro but there are nothing like previous lines of HEAD racquets where HEAD was more known for flex than any other racquet brand on the market. Graphene ushered in a drastic change in an effort to adapt to the modern, faster, more powerful game and to battle it out with a power brand like Babolat (Wilson has never been shy to produce stiffer frames either). If I compare the Graphene series to the Innegra series, the Youtek Innegra included stellar frames such as the HEAD IG Radical Pro and the HEAD IG Prestige MP (both frames which I’ve enjoyed quite a bit personally and are hits with both recreational and professional players).

Talking about Prestige, HEAD has been doing a “#HistoryofPrestige” series on their Instagram including some absolutely amazing racquet photography that would make most racquetholics salivate substantially. Below are the outtakes from their series so far and I would be very happy if they, based on the interest of this series and what the fans ask for, decided to reintroduce some HEAD classics like a Prestige Classic 600, a Radical Tour (I like the Zebra or Candycane editions myself), a Pro Tour 630 and a iPrestige in their line-up. I think they would sell more than the Wilson Pro Staff RF 85 (click for my review, click here to buy) that Wilson re-introduced.

But that’s of course my personal opinion and now I’m keen to hear yours. If HEAD re-released a classic, which one would you vote for and why? And more importantly for HEAD, would you buy it?

Marin Cilic has shown the tennis world that he is a force to reckon with now that he’s made three grand slam finals and won at least one GS title, along with the Cincinnati masters title in 2016. But what racquet does he use?

A lot of people are wondering what kind of frame gives Cilic the power to hit through the court and his opponents like that? I can tell you it’s a quite powerful frame, but not from the stiffness, but from being quite heavy in the head. The paint job is a HEAD Graphene Touch Prestige Mid (he used to use a Radical paint job for a long time), but the model is a pro stock with the code TGK 231.3 which means it is the mould from a Head Microgel Radical MP with an open string pattern.

I used to own and use one of Cilic’s actual frames and another TGK 231.3 and they are really nice-playing frames with nice feel, but also good spin. There was a quite a bit of lead tape on Cilic’s frame which increases the swing weight and makes it play more powerful, but without lead and silicone it wouldn’t be the same. The Head Microgel Radical MP is one of the most popular “platform” frames which are great for customizing with lead and silicone (or blu-tack). Cilic’s frame also has a custom molded L4 grip, not in the rectangular Head shape, but more Wilson-like, similar to the TK82S pallets. (Since it doesn’t come with pallets, you can’t change the grip size.)

If I remember correctly, the specs were around 350 grams strung with a balance around 32,5 cm. He uses Babolat VS 16 Natural Gut in the mains and Big Banger ALU Power 1.25 in the crosses. Tension around 25-26 kg depending on conditions.

Here are some pics of my Cilic frames:

If you like the design of Cilic’s racquet and would see it as too heavy to play with, you can get the HEAD Graphene Touch Prestige Mid, which I’ve yet to review, but have written about here in my post about the HEAD Graphene Touch Prestige series.

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HEAD Graphene Touch Prestige

History of Prestige – HEAD Legendary Racquets

A lot of racquetholics and racquet collectors think vintage/older HEAD racquets are about the best on the market with their flexible response and great touch. Will they ever bring them back?

Marin Cilic’s Tennis Racquet

Marin Cilic has shown the tennis world that he is a force to reckon with now that he’s made three grand slam finals and won at least one GS title, along with the Cincinnati masters title in 2016. But what racquet does he use?