Prince ATS Textreme Tour 100 ( 290 ) Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 87

Our team found the Prince ATS Textreme Tour 100 290 easy to use and spin-friendly from the baseline. Brittany has playtested several other racquets in the ATS Textreme family and has recently dabbled with lighter racquets. She started off by saying, "I was extremely excited for this playtest, and it did not disappoint. Even at an unstrung weight under 300 grams, the Tour 100 290 offered high levels of playability, especially from the baseline. I noticed two things on my groundstrokes: excellent maneuverability and controllable power. This racquet is extremely easy to swing, so it's easy to generate racquet head speed. That translated to power, but I never felt like the ball was launching. I had good control over where the ball was landing and felt confident going after riskier targets on my more aggressive groundstrokes. Slices were just OK, which was to be expected with the lighter weight."

Tiffani is also familiar with the ATS Textreme family. She said, "My current racquet comes from this ATS Textreme Tour line, and this playtest just lengthened the list of frames I enjoy from this family. The Textreme Tour 100 290 is lighter than my ATS Textreme Tour 100P, and it has a more open string pattern, but this 290 version was easy for me to transition into. Although it has a lower static weight, there's enough swingweight to mask instability most of the time. I only recalled having stability issues when I was hitting high above my shoulder outside of my strike zone. Otherwise, this racquet offered stability on par with 300-gram racquets. With an open string pattern and an easy swing, this Tour 100 290 let me hit some great angles. I could dip the ball and get it moving off the court. My slices were OK, but they were more defensive since my slice shots didn't penetrate the court like they would with my own racquet."

"The Tour 100 290 reminded me just how fun tennis can be," added Sage. "My racquet of choice is substantially heavier, so I decided to relax, loosen my grip and swing away. This strategy produced some smile-inducing rallies. The open string pattern lifted the ball and imparted heavy spin, leading to easy depth. Combine the insanely maneuverable swing and controlled feel the ATS technology provides, and the result was effortless consistency. Sure, there were times when I missed the extra weight, but I've never hit with a 290-gram frame that was as stable as this one. The specs work in harmony to squeeze stability, power and placement out of a weight that typically doesn't exhibit those traits. Beginners will be rewarded with more shots in the court, intermediate players can harness the spin and control, and it acts as a customization platform for more advanced players. Prince nailed this one."

Jason was able to head directly to the court and instantly start playing well. He said, "This is such an easy racquet to use from the baseline. I knew it was going to be maneuverable and I knew it was going to be spin-friendly, but I was surprised by the depth I was getting and the effectiveness of my shots. Sure the 290-gram weight was on the lighter side, and because of that, I wasn't hitting with as much pace as I would've wanted, but I could easily add some tungsten tape to fix that."

Volleys - Score: 84

Heading up to net, our playtest crew found the ATS Textreme Tour 100 290 to be a speedy racquet with great feel, although they did notice some instability at times. Tiffani found herself ending more points up at net with this racquet. She said, "When a racquet instills confidence in my volleys, I can't complain. This Tour 100 290 felt so quick at net that I was more confident following a short ball up to close out the point with a punch volley. The stability was sufficient for my needs, and I liked the easy depth on my volleys."

"The Textreme Tour 100 290 felt so quick up at net," continued Jason. "It felt like there was no lag time from when I started my swing to when I made contact. I also felt well connected to my shots, and I loved the feel at contact."

Brittany has been a big fan of the feel of Prince racquets ever since she started using them at 10 years old. She said, "I enjoyed the responsive feel that the Textreme Tour 100 290 offered at the net. While I was able to soften my hands and hit touch volleys, I had my best success punching the ball deep with firm, short strokes. There was surprisingly good stability for the most part, but I did feel like the racquet was getting pushed around when a passing shot came in with solid pace and spin."

Sage agreed with Brittany here. He said, "Getting the racquet into position was smooth, and it offered a surprisingly forgiving response. I mostly looked for a crisp volley to hit through the court, but I could also come underneath it to drop it short as long as I wasn't up against a big hitter. That said, I was left wishing for more stability when I was up against a heavy ball."

Serves - Score: 82

The playtesters agreed that spin was the Prince ATS Textreme Tour 100 290's biggest strength when it came to serves. Sage enjoyed the variety of serves he could hit with this racquet. He said, "This was another area of the court where the open string pattern made the difference. My serves weren't coming in as fast as with other racquets, but that was offset by the slice and kick I could generate. I preferred going to the body, so it didn't give my opponent a chance to take a full cut at the return. There was ample control to hit corners, and comfort was never in question."

The highlight here for Tiffani was the added spin on her slice serves. She said, "I found that spin came more easily than it does with my own racquet. My flat serves weren't enhanced, but I thought they were easy to execute with this racquet. Most of the time, I was choosing to slice both my first and second serves because I liked the added action I was getting on that shot."

While Jason found it easy to hit his mark with this racquet on serves, he noticed it lacking a bit of oomph. He explained, "The Tour 100 290 was great for hitting slice serves. I thought it was easy to accelerate the racquet and easy to serve with a high percentage. There was good access to spin for sure, but the lack of mass was noticeable to my opponents, who said they felt it was easier to attack my serves. A bit of tungsten tape would be able to fix that."

The ATS Textreme Tour 100 290's spin potential was the standout feature for Brittany on serves. She said, "I thought the Tour 100 290 offered plenty of access to spin, and I utilized it the most on both my first and second serves. My favorite serve to hit was a slice serve out wide on the deuce side to pull my opponent off the court. I wasn't hitting my fastest or heaviest serves with this racquet, but I was doing enough to start points at least neutrally, if not offensively. Second serves were consistent and comfortable, although lacking a little bit of weight behind them."

Returns - Score: 82

The Prince ATS Textreme Tour 100 290 had mixed results for our playtesters on return of serve. On one hand, the racquet yielded strong returns for Tiffani. She said, "Once again, I was impressed with this racquet. I liked the way the easy depth mixed with easy spin to keep this shot in play. The swingweight is very manageable, so this Tour 100 290 was simple enough for me to get around in time, and I felt comfortable being more selective with my shot placement. On second serve returns, I could step in and get more offensive."

"The ability to get a racquet around my body quickly and never feel late when returning is a key aspect to starting a point off offensively," said Brittany. However, she and the rest of the playtesters did notice the lighter weight most on this stroke. "Normally, I prefer to return over serve, but with the Prince ATS Textreme Tour 100 290 I didn't have a preference one way or the other. I don't often say this, but I think this racquet could use a little added weight to bring up the level of playability even more."

Jason enjoyed the Tour 100 290 more for attacking than for defending on serve returns. He said, "The ATS Textreme Tour 100 290 allowed me to hit with lots of spin and nice depth, and it came around my body super quick. I also felt like the control was excellent, and I was finding my targets at a high percentage. The racquet was missing a bit of mass when going up against harder hit serves. It can get pushed back, and torsional stability suffers because of it."

Sage found returning to be the most difficult part of the playtest due to the lighter weight. He wrapped things up, saying, "Blocking the ball to try to neutralize a big serve resulted in the frame twisting in hand. I had to focus on getting my feet into position so I could take a full swing. I just never quite settled in with the ATS Textreme Tour 100 290, and I didn't feel confident in my return game."

Overall - Score: 86