Prince Speedport Red Review Review

If you are interested in keeping up with today's tennis game, you've got to be all about speed.

Today's players are hitting with more power and spin, and when it comes to racquet performance, faster is better.

Enter O3 Speedport technology. Prince's evolution of its popular O3 series, the O3 Speedport racquets feature new O ports with a more aerodynamic design.

Taking inspiration from the air intakes on fighter jets and the world's fastest sports cars, Prince squared off the O Port design on its O3 Speedport racquets to make them more aerodynamic.

Prince points out that the the new aerodynamic design allows easier access to racquet head speed. The result for the player is a faster swing speed with better access to power and spin.

Another benefit of the revised O3 Speedport racquets is that they allow for greater string movement at impact. As the strings can deflect more along the flat edge of the squared-off grommet hole, the racquet offers increased comfort and, according to Prince, a much larger sweetspot.

Having enjoyed the performance of the O3 Red racquet in our 2005 racquet review, we were eager to hit the courts with its Speedport replacement, the O3 Speedport Red. Read on for the full review.

Groundstrokes

The O3 Speedport Red impressed our team off the ground with a solid and comfortable feel. Enjoying the response and feel of the racquet was Spencer. "I liked the solid feel from the large sweetspot. This racquet provides plenty of access to spin, helping with control, though I had some depth problems when going for winners. Plenty of power in this one, so I had a little trouble adjusting at first. Once I adjusted, I got a better feel off both wings and became more consistent. For a lighter weight racquet, it produces good solid shots from the baseline." Immediately finding his targets with the racquet was Granville. "From the first forehand I was greeted with a soft and comfortable sweetspot AND that nice 'thwap' sound I like so much. Turning it up a notch, I began swinging out and was getting good depth on my groundies. Despite the lighter weight and larger headsize (than I'm accustomed to), the ball was not traveling long as I had anticipated. I was able to hit solid groundies with good pace and power on demand. It really seemed easier to play my regular all-court game, and play well, than with my heavier and more head-light racquet."

Chris also really enjoyed hitting with the racquet from the baseline. "I had a lot of fun playtesting this racquet. It was very maneuverable and spin friendly. I was also able to generate a lot of pace off both wings. I think I could add quite a bit of lead to this racquet to increase the weight of my shots without compromising much maneuverability. Without a doubt, this racquet definitely felt faster through the air than the O3 Red. It was just an easy racquet to use and I could pick it up and find the groove immediately. The response was very comfortable. I thought the sweetspot was very generous and I was impressed with the stability I found. I was able to get good depth and directional control on my shots when hitting with topspin. When slicing, I found it better to really drive through the ball and utilize the easy access to racquet head speed. With some added weight, I think I'd be much more comfortable when blocking and chipping with slice." Enjoying the amount of spin on his shots with the O3 Speedport Red was Ryan. "This was a very nice and comfortable racquet from the ground. I got good depth and pace on my shots. I also had good access to spin which was one of the nicest parts of the racquet. It was very easy to swing, having a balance and swingweight which felt well suited to my game. I would really recommend this to anyone looking for a little more zip on their ground game, especially in a doubles format."

Volleys

Our playtesters continued to sing the praise of the O3 Speedport Red at net, where they found an impressive combination of mobility and feel. Chris found himself attacking the net with confidence using the O3 Speedport Red. "I played a solid mix of doubles and singles while playtesting this racquet. In both situations I loved the response at net. The racquet felt very fast and easy to get around. I found myself going for very sharp angles as it was easy to get the racquet around the ball and the stringbed offered plenty of bite. There were times I hit way more angle than needed, just because I felt confident I could pull the shot off." Enjoying the controlled response of the racquet was Ryan. "The net was another one of the areas where I felt this racquet excelled. Volleys were very controlled, with great depth and a very solid response. Maneuverability was good due to the overall weight of this racquet. Overheads felt great with this racquet; great control."

Both Spencer and Granville found the headsize of the O3 Speedport Red well suited to volleying. Spencersaid, "A great stick at the net. The 105 square inch headsize was forgiving, and there was great maneuverability that made this a good doubles racquet. I found good power to put away volleys while also finding a softness for nice touch volleys." Granville was in agreement. "That extra real estate in the head made for a very forgiving stringbed at net. I was impressed with the touch provided, as well as the punch to close out the point. I was also able to bleed some pace off shots for some good disguise on drop shots."

Serve

The O3 Speedport Red offered great access to spin and lots of control on serve. If anything, our team would have liked a bit more heft for hitting a weightier first serve with the O3 Speedport Red. Spencer found plenty of control and spin on serve. "I found that placement and spin worked well for me with this racquet. Ironically, the aerodynamic design of this racquet didn't allow for that extra pop I was looking for when trying to hit a flatter, more paced serve." Also serving with consistency was Chris. "I found good pace and spin, but would have liked more weight for better depth and penetration when serving. The racquet came through the contact zone very easily and I was able to generate lots of racquet head speed on both first and second serves. I was very happy with my consistency, but missed the pop provided by the weight of my regular stick - nothing a little lead tape couldn't fix."

Granville. "I did not notice the extra 1/4 inch length on the racquet and serving was as I would expect - very solid with good targeting. I was able to hit the ball about has hard as I can with my regular Wilson Hyper ProStaff 6.1. Looking at the racquet, I thought I was going to be able to crush the ball, but this racquet did not play with the power of a widebody - although that's how the beam appeared visually to this tester." Ryan would have liked more weight from the racquet on serve, too. "My serves were the one area that suffered a bit from the lightness of the racquet. Even with the extra racquet head speed from the port system, I felt that my flat serve bomber was just a dud. I didn't feel like there was any weight behind the serve. My kick serve, however, was great, as this racquet has fantastic spin access due to the open string pattern. I would recommend using a crisper, harder string than Prince Premier Softflex, Wilson NXT or Tecnifibre NRG because these strings were a bit too lively and hard to control in this racquet for me. Going with a Prince Synthetic Gut multifilament or Lightning was much better for me and was better for spin as well."

Serve Returns

When returning serve with the O3 Speedport Red, our playtesters were impressed with the level of comfort and control they found. Quickly finding the groove was Granville. "Here is another shot where I was instantly comfortable. I found myself taking the offensive more often with this racquet than I would with my regular stick. I could aggressively take the ball on the rise and create opportunities I am not accustomed to. This racquet seems to break the mold, or stereotype, of the long, light oversized racquet." Finding the racquet very mobile on returns was Spencer. "Another area where this racquet excelled. Good maneuverability allowed me to get the racquet head in place for a hard incoming serve, not to mention being able to get depth with a shorter stroke."

Ryan also enjoyed the maneuverable feel of the racquet. "Returns were solid with this racquet. The extra racquet head speed generated with this racquet was definitely most noticeable when returning serve. I was able to catch up with serves that were moving fast and still get a solid return on the ball. Again, this racquet would be pretty deadly for doubles." Chris enjoyed the control and comfort offered by the O3 Speedport Red. "I found lots of control and comfort when hitting returns. I was able to block returns pretty well, but had the most confidence when hitting aggressively. No matter what type of return I hit, I felt well connected to the pace, spin and direction of my shots."

Overall

We found the O3 Speedport Red to be a very solid update to the already impressive O3 Red. The O3 Speedport Red felt more maneuverable and comfortable compared to its predecessor. With faster swing speeds easy to generate, our team was finding plenty of zip and spin on their shots. At net the racquet continued to impress with a solid blend of stability and maneuverability. The amount of feel from the stringbed can be customized somewhat by moving the string dampener out of the yoke, up towards the bottom cross string. The higher the dampener, the more dampened the response. No matter where our testers preferred the dampener, they felt well connected to their shots with a solid sense of directional and depth control. Offering an almost universal appeal, this racquet will find a broad fan base from 3.0 to 5.5 level players.

Prince O3 Speedport Red scores

(Scores are determined by averaging individual play test scores)

Review date: April 2007. If you found this review interesting or have further questions or comments please contact us.

All content copyright 2007 Tennis Warehouse.