Tennis
Start here
Buy the softest one you can. Everything else on this page can wait.
If you buy one thing
S$379 · Wilson Singapore · RA 54 · 295 g
The softest frame on this list and the lightest of the soft ones. It gives when the ball hits it rather than passing the shock to your arm, and there is less of it to swing while you are still learning where the ball is going.
A stiff frame sends the hit straight into your arm. A soft frame bends, so the shock goes into the frame instead. RA is how stiff it is — lower is softer, and anything under 58 is soft. That's the whole lesson. The rest of the numbers can wait until you can feel the difference.
Specs: Tennis Warehouse University — Racquet Analyzer — measurements of strung frames, June 2026. Photographs via Tennis Warehouse. Brand marks and the Carousell icon from Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Prices are Singapore list prices checked 17 September 2026, at the shop named on each row.
The other columns, when you want them
When you outgrow it
Sell it on Carousell Beginner frames are the easiest racquets to move here — cheap, common, and wanted by exactly the person you were two years ago. A Clash or a Gravity in decent condition goes in days. Restring it with cheap synthetic gut first: “freshly strung” fetches more than the strings cost. And don't throw it, or scrape the frame along the ground. Scuffs on the plastic bumper guard at the top of the hoop are free — that strip exists to be scraped, and a replacement set costs a few dollars, so change it before you wear through to the graphite. Scrapes anywhere else don't polish out, and they show up in every photo.
Your main frame sits at the stringer for two or three days, which is two or three sessions you'd otherwise miss. The frame you already own is cheaper than a second copy of your main, and it costs nothing to leave in the bag.
The soft frame is your arm's day off. When your elbow is grumbling and you still want to hit, RA 54 and 127 Hz is what you take out. It also settles an argument: if the soreness follows you to the soft frame, the racquet was never the problem.
Balls
1 can at a time
Quoted total + 9% GST; shipping unconfirmed. Size barely moves the price — 3 to 8 cans all land within 0.7% a ball, so buy the quantity you need rather than the biggest.
All-in landed, GST and fees inside
1 can at a time
Can photography via Rackethaus SG, Sportsshop SG and ODEA Sports. Prices are net per ball after credit-card miles, at 1.5 cents a mile.
Strings
Strings are what actually touch the ball, so they matter as much as the frame. Before you have a preference of your own, there are only three questions.
What
One string, all the way through — a “full bed”. Not a hybrid. Two strings is a tuning trick for someone who already knows what they are tuning.
Which
Something soft. Synthetic gut if you are just hitting with friends, multifilament if you are taking lessons. Not polyester: it is stiff, and it is the one thing on this page that will hurt your arm while you are still learning to find the middle.
How tight
52 lbs. That is the middle of the range for a 100 in² frame, and the middle is where you want to start. Tighter feels dead and harsh — the classic beginner mistake — and looser is livelier but harder to keep in the court.
The same string in both directions is a full bed, and that is what you want. Two different strings, one per direction, is a hybrid: a way to tune a frame once you know what you are tuning. The mains do most of the work, which is why the hybrid builder below starts with them.
Pick by level
A few times a month, not chasing improvement yet
Soft and elastic, so the sweet spot feels bigger and the power comes free — and it is the least fussy thing you can put in a frame in this heat. Every brand's plays much the same, so pick it by colour.
Weekly, maybe taking lessons — you want feedback
Softer than synthetic gut: more free power, and a much clearer feel at contact, which is how you learn what you did. Value: Wilson Sensation, Head Velocity MLT, Babolat Xcel. Step up: Wilson NXT, Tecnifibre NRG. Less durable, so restring on schedule.
You make your own power and want it harnessed
Poly goes in the mains because the mains are ~70% of how the bed plays: control and spin, with the multi crosses keeping it comfortable. Round polys only — Head Hawk Touch, Yonex Poly Tour Pro, Luxilon Element. Shaped strings like Hyper G or Lynx Tour saw through the multi.
Build the hybrid
Pick the mains and the crosses from the current strings. Round poly in the mains with a softer cross is the usual way round; flip it if you would rather have the comfort under your hand.
Singapore
Reference
Tennis Warehouse University lab numbers — every string measured the same way at 51 lbs and a fast swing, so the rows compare directly. Still in production only. Lowest tension loss first; the ones I've played carry the tension.
My bag
The two frames I actually play, to the maker's own numbers. Click any shot to open it full size.
2026 · 8th gen · 16x20 · control
Shots: Yonex · via Tennis Warehouse — click to open
2025 · Roland-Garros edition · 16x19 · the soft one
Shots: Wilson · via the Roland-Garros store — click to open
New this year
Every frame from the two brands I play, released this year — and the one still coming. Checked 24 September 2026.
| Brand | Frame | Models | Status | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yonex | VCORE 8th gen | 95 · 98 · 100 · 100L · 100D | Out Jan 2026 | A power-first rewrite of the whole line — the 98 now plays like a power frame that happens to spin rather than a control frame. The 95 kept the smaller head and denser pattern. |
| Yonex | MUSE | 98 · 100 · 100L · 100SL · 107 | Out Apr 2026 | A new franchise rather than an update. Pitched at easy play and arm comfort, with an open 16x18 bed on the 100 and 107. |
| Yonex | EZONE | 8th gen — 98 · 100 · 100L · 105 | Colour only · Aug 2026 | No new frame this year. The 8th gen dates from January 2025 and only picked up a new colourway in August; the next generation is expected January 2027. |
| Wilson | Blade v10 | 98 16x19 · 98 18x20 · 100 · 100L · 100UL · 100 Pro | Out Jul 2026 | A thicker beam and a firmer response off the v9 — the biggest Blade change in years. The SW102 Autograph is gone. |
| Wilson | Pro Staff 2026 | 97 (16x19) | Out Jul 2026 | A quiet refresh — classic cosmetic, same 97 head. The line was trimmed rather than rebuilt. |
| Wilson | Python | 98 (16x20) | Due Oct 2026 | A new silo, not a Shift update — the Shift is dead to make room for it. Around 302 g unstrung, athletic throat, aimed at the Pure Aero 98 and my VCORE 98. Pro stock only so far. |
Journey
One racket, one tension — VCORE 95 (2026), 48 lb — and one variable at a time. What's in the frame now, what the bar is, and what's next.
The bar
Long-time string. Boardy for ~2 sessions, then it settles: solid, surgical, huge spin — and it never surprises you.
“Goes wherever you hit.”
In the frame now
Livelier, softer, objectively more power — but unpredictable. Sprayed more than ever before; less feedback felt. Getting a fair run, then out.
“50/50 power — the unpredictable kind.”
Next stringing
Full bed, same frame, same 48 — chasing more feedback. If it comes out too lively later: 18 mains / 17 cross. Never the reverse.
“I need more feedback.”
The feel axis
4S 17 — the bar, in control · 4S 18 — expected, close to the 17 · Mach-10 — lively, less talking back. The feedback you love on centre hits is the same property that stings on shanks.
The 4S lifecycle
Lab corner · TWU, one sample each
| String | Stiffness | Loss | Energy | Spin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Code 4S 16 (1.30) | 243 | 26% | 89% | 9.2 |
| Black Code 4S 17 (1.25) | 209 | 28% | 89% | 9.8 |
| Black Code 4S 18 (1.20) | 210 | 26% | 88% | 6.1 * |
| Mach-10 16 (1.30) | 222 | 27% | 87% | 6.0 |
* The 18's spin figure looks like a bad sample — the family reads 9.2–9.8, and 17 and 18 measure near-identical in stiffness. The 18's difference will be feel, not numbers. Mach-10 is shown in 16 — the only gauge in the lab.
Balls, ranked
The ball is a variable too — a fresh can vs a dead one moves feel more than most string changes. Same ball on both sides of any A/B.
Rules of the test: frame fixed · 48 lb fixed · ball fixed · one string variable. Bench queue: Tour Bite · Hyper-G · Confidential · ALU Power · 4G · Cyclone.
Clips
Click a tile to play it in place. The circle opens it full width.
Courts
Every court from my Rovo history, most-visited first. Tap a star to rate a place — tap the same star again to clear it.
Members
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