Serena Williams: With a smaller racket to great success in New York?
Serena Williams will bet on a smaller racket in her hunt for the 24th individual Grand Slam title at the US Open.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Aug 24, 2020, 02:33 pm
When Roger Federer announced in 2013 before the tournament in Hamburg that he wanted to compete with a new racket, the excitement in the tennis circus was great. For years, the Swiss had had success with the 90s model of his supplier, in northern Germany the maestro resorted to the 98 variant - a difference of no less than 51 square centimeters in terms of the size of the clubface.
Federer, who finally stayed with the larger model after some back and forth, followed the trend towards ever larger clubs. A brand colleague of the 20-time Grand Slam winner has now opted for the opposite path: Serena Williams will start with a smaller racket from the US Open.
Same power with more control
So far, the American had played with the "Blade SW104 CV Autograph" specially made for her, but from the Grand Slam tournament in New York Williams will use the "Blade SW102 Autograph". The clubface is now only 658 square centimeters instead of 671 square centimeters.
It just feels right.
Serena Williams on changing clubs
At the expense of the possible acceleration, the reduction in club head size should not be done, rather Williams hopes that he will have more control with almost the same power: "I love my previous 'blade club' and it is a big part of my success, but I knew I would make changes I have held the new racket in my hands for most of the year and it just feels right. "
"Cincinnati" still with an old bat
"We took the same stiffness and feel that she loved about her previous racket and reduced it to a smaller shape. With a smaller frame, you automatically get more control," said Ron Rocchi, one of the people in charge of the development of the new model, the process.
Whether Williams will achieve her long-awaited 24th Grand Slam triumph with the new bat at the US Open is of course still uncertain. First of all, the Cincinnati tournament is still on the program for the 38-year-old. In the second round Williams meets the Dutch Arantxa Rus - then with her old racket.