String Playtest Comparison: Tecnifibre X-One Biphase vs Bab Xcel Premium

About the play tester

About the String

Tester: Evan Playing Level: 5.0 Regular playing equipment: Wilson nPro Open strung with Wilson NXT @ 57 Lbs Game Style: Baseliner with a fast swing and lots of topspin Strings being tested: Babolat XCEL Premium vs. Tecnifibre X-One Biphase Gauge: 16 (for both) Racquet(s) string is in: Wilson nPro Open Tension: 57 Lbs Stringing One Piece stringing. Both strings had a large amount of stretch and were not stiff at all. Stringing for both strings was very easy and no problems were encountered during stringing.

Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 16 String With its gut like feel, this high-end multifilament offers exceptional power, comfort and ball pocketing. Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 16 String Red With its gut like feel, this high-end multifilament offers exceptional power, comfort and ball pocketing. Now available in red.

Power

Both strings had great power. Hard to tell which one had more. The Tecnifibre might of a had bit more power, but they were very close and comparable.

Control

Fair control with both strings. The Tecnifibre string seemed to have a little more control than the Babolat, however both were not heavy on the control side.

Comfort

Babolat felt a little more comfortable than the Tecnifibre string, having a kind of "buttery" feel. However, both strings were very comfortable and easy on the arm. Using a fairly stiff racquet, I had no issues with my arm whatsoever.

Spin

The Tecnifibre string was better than the Babolat string for generating spin. Both were very good, but the Tecnifibre "bit" and gripped the ball just a little better.

Feel

Both strings had a soft feel. The Babolat string felt softer than the tecnifibre. The Tecnifibre while soft, felt like it was a little rougher than the Babolat string. The Babolat string really played like "butter." Overall, the Babolat had more feel.

String Movement

I hardly had to straighten the strings at all with the Babolat string, whereas with the Tecnifibre I had to make some minor string adjustments every once in a while, though not too often.

Tension Maintenance

Both strings maintained tension very well. After three long hitting sessions I started to notice a bit of tension loss in both strings but not a great amount.

Durability

Each frame accrued 4-5 hours of play. Both were quite durable even with an open string pattern. After the 4-5 hours of hitting I didn't notice much wear on either set of strings. There was no fraying and hardly any discoloration near the racquets' sweet spot.

Weather/Temperature: Cool to warm temperatures. Sometimes a little damp, when playing at night.

Court Surface: Medium to fast hard courts.

Overall Summary:

Both strings are top of the line. Both are great strings and while they are a little different in their feel, they are both as high a quality as any multifilament string I've ever played with. I would highly recommend both of these strings to any player looking for a multifilament string.

Comfort Babolat XCel Premium 98 Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 93	Control Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 90 Babolat XCel Premium 87	Feel Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 95 Babolat XCel Premium 90	Overall Playability Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 96 Babolat XCel Premium 95
Power Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 95 Babolat XCel Premium 93	Spin Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 96 Babolat XCel Premium 93	String Movement Babolat XCel Premium 96 Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 90	Tension Maintenance Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 95 Babolat XCel Premium 93

Playtest date: April, 2007.

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