Tecnifibre TFight 295 RS Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 81

With a 295-gram unstrung weight, the Tecnifibre TFight 295 RS is lighter than the racquets our playtesters typically use. However, from the back of the court, the racquet impressed with its speedy maneuverability, better-than-expected stability and easy access to power and spin. Tiffani summarized her first impressions, saying, "This TFight 295 RS exceeded my expectations from the baseline. My initial thoughts were that it would be too light and unstable — a light, control-oriented frame? My arm was thinking no thanks! How wrong I was! There was plenty of zip off this racquet's stringbed, and it managed to feel comfortable even with the Babolat RDC showing a 70 RA stiffness rating. We even had it strung up with a full bed of co-poly string for the playtest. This TFight 295, like the 300 and 305 versions, didn't feel like a pure control racquet. All three of these TFights come with some built-in power, which was much appreciated at this lower static weight. I also thought the racquet had good access to depth and spin. My favorite aspect was that it swung quickly. I felt like I could wait a split second longer when I had a short ball, holding my shot and forcing my opponent to commit to a side, which let me change the direction of the ball to the open court. Now, whether this was actually the case or just added confidence, I don't know, but I did feel that I could dictate play more often off the ground."

Chris enjoyed the amount of swing speed he could get on his shots. He explained, "The TFight 295 RS felt super fast and easy to maneuver from the baseline. I enjoyed carrying a lot of tip speed on my shots with this racquet, and I found it to play better and better the faster I swung. Generating pace and spin felt pretty seamless. There was just enough swingweight to help push the ball deep and give my shots some penetration. The little bit of mass I was feeling on the ball was thanks to a close-to-even balance, which gave the racquet a solid feel for its weight. I liked the TFight 295 RS the most on topspin shots, since I could whip up on the ball aggressively. On slice shots, I prefer having a heftier racquet to help me drive through the ball. "

Mark settled in nicely to the frame's specs. He said, "The Tecnifibre TFight 295 RS was just heavy enough for me to effectively play offense and defense from the baseline, and it was certainly light enough to comfortably swing all day long. Its average 3-point head-light balance made the TFight 295 RS stable enough for me to smoothly get the tip of the racquet through contact against heavy groundstrokes, while the topspin I could develop with the rather wide and uniform spacing of its 16x19 pattern made it easy to drop my shots off near the baseline. With regards to my backhand slice, the open pattern did make it more challenging for me to keep the ball low over the net. Overall, the TFight 295 RS was predictably maneuverable and surprisingly stable from the backcourt."

Volleys - Score: 79

It was no surprise that the TFight 295 RS' lighter weight allowed for plenty of reaction time at the net, and as Mark explains, the stability only wavered against the fastest of shots. He said, "The TFight 295 RS' light yet stable nature was also evident with my volley. It was not until passing shots eclipsed legal freeway speeds that this racquet fluttered in my hand at all. I was able to put away shots and develop some crafty angled volleys too."

Tiffani had similar results moving forward. She added, "For the most part, I liked the TFight 295 RS at net. It felt easy to move into position, and it was adequately stable when punching through the ball. The only time I was missing some weight was when I was stretched out and making a stab volley. When that happened, the racquet didn't have the mass to remain stable and send the ball over the net."

Chris felt connected to his shots and could place his volleys well, though he did note room for customization. He described, "I had a solid sense of where my volleys were going to land the instant they left the stringbed with the TFight 295 RS. The feel was very crisp and precise. Unlike a heavy, flexible racquet that lets the ball sit on the strings, the TFight 295 RS offered a faster-feeling response. I thought the feel complemented the maneuverability of the TFight 295 RS very well. I also thought there was ample room to add some weight to beef this racquet up. Adding weight would be something I'd definitely tinker with to match the racquet more to my preferences."

Serves - Score: 80

Getting this TFight 295 RS moving overhead was no issue, which made it easy to achieve high acceleration speed and tap into enough spin to push opponents off court on serves. Chris made good use of the racquet's spin potential. He said, "My slice serve was working well with the TFight 295 RS. I could get it to kick wide of my opponents or kick into their body to jam them. I liked how easy it was to accelerate the racquet through contact; I could get enough spin to help keep my bigger serves inside the lines. Even when strung with a stiffer, deader co-poly, the stringbed felt decently lively and forgiving. The TFight 295 RS offered more comfort than I'd expect from such a light and maneuverable racquet."

Serves stood out as the highlight of the playtest for Mark. He described, "This was by far my favorite shot to hit with Tecnifibre's RS update to the TFight 295. The lighter overall weight made for easy racquet head speed, and the slight head-light balance added the power and stability I needed to produce quite a few unreturnable serves — zero aces to report, though."

Tiffani felt satisfied with the serves she could produce with the TFight 295. She said, "Although I didn't find this racquet to deliver big-time plow through, I got plenty of pop and enough spin for my game. The easy feel over the head was the standout feature for me when serving. I didn't get tired swinging it, and I felt comfortable moving my serves around the box."

Returns - Score: 78

Returns were met with slightly mixed reviews; some playtesters benefited from the TFight 295 RS' speedy nature, while others felt it caused them to swing too big, resulting in a loss of control. Tiffani noticed the latter on occasion. She explained, "Sometimes I got a bit wild with my swings because this TFight 295 RS felt like it was coming around so quickly. I liked to take a full swing at most serves with this racquet, and at times I got too excited and went for too small a target too deep in the court. When I was a bit smarter with my shot selection, I was impressed with the comfort and stability coming from a 295-gram racquet."

Chris enjoyed mixing up his returns. He said, "I found the TFight 295 RS very versatile on returns. I was able to take returns early thanks to the racquet's fast feel. I also was able to return from deeper in the court and still find the power needed to hit with depth to my opponent's side. Getting spin was easy, and that added control to my drive returns while getting my angles to dip inside the lines more effectively."

Mark found the TFight 295 RS fast and stable enough to return most serves effectively. He said, "I consistently faced some good, heavy serves, and I can report a similar feeling returning serves with the TFight 295 RS as I did with regards to the volley; stable enough if the velocity was not too extreme. The 295 RS was stable so long as serve speeds were not extremely heavy, but I have to say that its high degree of maneuverability did not help me when pressured with a big first serve."

Overall - Score: 80