String Playtest Comparison: Tecnifibre E-Matrix vs Dunlop M-Fil Tour

About the play tester

About the String

Tester: Jason Playing Level: 4.0 Regular playing equipment: Head Flexpoint Radical Midplus strung with Wilson NXT 16 @ 60 Lbs Game Style: Baseliner with fast swing speed hitting a topspin forehand and one handed backhand Strings being tested: Tecnifibre E-Matrix and Dunlop M-Fil Tour 16 Gauge: 16 Racquet(s) string is in: Head Flexpoint Radical Midplus Tension: 60 Lbs Stringing 2 piece string job. When stringing the E-Matrix, the first thing I noticed was the texture of the string. The consistency was that of natural gut. The string seemed kinked and inconsistent. The Dunlop M-Fil Tour string felt and strung up like that of most multi-filament strings. As to be expected with multifilaments, there was a good amount of stretch when pulling tension on the string.

Power

Dunlop M-Fil Tour: Between the 2 strings, this was the more powerful string. From the get go, this string felt livelier than what you would expect from a lower end multifilament.

Tecnifibre E-Matrix: This string felt more dead when striking the ball. When hitting the ball, it took a noticeable effort to produce the same amount of power with the E-Matrix compared to the M-Fil Tour. It required some break in time, then the string felt more powerful.

Control

Both had surprisingly ample amount of control. Between the two, the E-Matrix had a bit more control due to the fact that it is a bit stiffer string.

Comfort

I have had tennis elbow in the past and my arm had no ill effects from playing with these two strings. Being that they are multifilaments, it was no surprise.

Spin

Both the E-Matrix and M-Fil Tour offered comparable amounts of spin. It was not exceptional, but adequate. I would recommend something like the Tecnifibre X-One Biphase for someone looking for a multi-filament string that offered a good amount of bite.

Feel

From the stringing machine to the court, the M-Fil Tour felt pretty good. The E-Matrix took some time to break in before I started feeling pretty good hitting with it. The E-Matrix just felt a bit stiffer than the M-Fil Tour.

String Movement

There was minimal string movement on both strings. Which is very common for me because of the tight string pattern on my racquets (18 X 20).

Tension Maintenance

After a couple days of hitting, I noticed that there was some tension loss for both strings, but nothing dramatic. I was actually surprised at how well the strings held their tension.

Durability

There were no signs of fraying from both strings. I noticed notching, but that was too be expected. I played with both strings for a total of 6 hours, spending about half the time with each string.

Weather/Temperature: The days I hit were typically sunny, around 65-72 degrees.

Court Surface: Hard courts.

Overall Summary:

Both strings offer average playability, average power and above average durability. I was not too impressed with the E-Matrix from the get go. Stringing the E-Matrix was tougher than you would expect from a multi-filament. It took some time hitting with it before I felt some positive feedback from the string. The M-Fil Tour just felt like a better quality string. It offers a softer feel and bit more power than the E-Matrix. Overall, I would recommend the Dunlop M-Fil Tour string over the Tecnifibre E-Matrix because it offers a softer, more forgiving stringbed.

Comfort Dunlop M-Fil Tour 85 Tecnifibre E-Matrix 83	Control Tecnifibre E-Matrix 80 Dunlop M-Fil Tour 78	Feel Dunlop M-Fil Tour 82 Tecnifibre E-Matrix 77	Overall Playability Dunlop M-Fil Tour 86 Tecnifibre E-Matrix 82
Power Dunlop M-Fil Tour 76 Tecnifibre E-Matrix 75	Spin Dunlop M-Fil Tour 78 Tecnifibre E-Matrix 78	String Movement Tecnifibre E-Matrix 93 Dunlop M-Fil Tour 91	Tension Maintenance Dunlop M-Fil Tour 90 Tecnifibre E-Matrix 90

Playtest date: April, 2007.

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