Prince Phantom Pro 100P Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 83

Our playtesters came off the court praising the Phantom Pro 100P's playability from the baseline. Chris simply loved hitting groundstrokes with this racquet, and he felt that the level of control and spin was best-in-class. He raved, "The Phantom Pro 100P offered a very pure feel and reminded me of the classic racquets I grew up with. However, like most modern racquets, the Phantom Pro 100P swung faster and lighter, which allowed easier access to spin. Despite it being such a fast racquet, I felt like I got enough plow through from the Phantom Pro 100P to find depth. The open string pattern also offered a nice launch angle to help me keep my shots deep in the court. I loved the feel, and much of this test was based around control for me. My drop shots felt dialed in, and I also had good touch on my angles and placement shots."

"I've referred to the Prince Tour 100 (Port system) racquets of the past as baseliner's dream sticks," began Troy. "Let's just say this Prince Phantom Pro 100P took things to the next level. It was a dream that I didn't want to snap out of! This racquet supplied just about everything I look for in a racquet from the baseline: comfort, plow through, stability and easy access to spin. If I had to knock the Phantom Pro 100P, I'd say it didn't have quite the pinpoint precision of my Dunlop Srixon Revo CX 2.0 Tour 18x20. I still found good control overall, and I was able to dial in my targeting after playing with this racquet for a few sessions. I also had to adjust to the launch angle and the amount of topspin this racquet generated. Initially, I found my heavy topspin forehands were either clipping the top of the net or landing very short on my opponent's side of the court. Compared to my racquet of choice, which has a dense 18x20 string pattern, this open-patterned Prince gave my shots more arch. I also noticed that the ball was dipping down fast with the extra topspin I could generate. I had to get used to aiming higher over the net and trusting that the added topspin would get the ball to land inside the baseline. Once I learned to trust this increase in net clearance I was able to grip and rip from the baseline with good consistency. This racquet felt like a hot knife cutting through butter when I sliced my backhand, and I could attack the ball with a lot of racquet head speed to impart heavy backspin. The controlled response allowed me to drive through my backhand slice and generate a deep-penetrating ball. The perfect 'dirty slice', as Chris would put it!"

Many of the racquets we test here exhibit more of the modern frame construction and feel, so Mark anticipated he would have to make some swing adjustments for this playtest. He commented, "From the first swing, I could tell the thin beam was going to allow for an easy and fast swing. The frame cut through the air quickly, rather than dragging. Within a half hour of hitting from the baseline, my groundstrokes were landing near the lines with what I consider an effective level of pace and spin. Typically, I seem to get a better response on my backhand slice with a dense string pattern, and I was pleasantly surprised when I realized I could really sizzle that shot with the Phantom Pro 100P. I felt its thin beam helped out with that particular shot. I also found that this racquet allowed me to swing a little more aggressively on every shot from the baseline."

Tiffani was also impressed by the Phantom Pro 100P, saying, "Oh, man, the sound this racquet makes at contact! I usually don't really pay much attention to noise on the court, but with the Phantom Pro 100P the pop of the ball just sounded so sweet. This racquet swings slightly heavier than I'm comfortable with, but I just don't care. Sure, I struggled to pick up balls at my feet, and I prefer a racquet that offers a bit more free power when I'm pushed back off the baseline, but playing with this racquet just felt good! The power level printed on the Phantom Pro 100P is the same as my Prince Textreme Tour 100P, but it felt like a different type of power. This racquet plowed through the ball better than my Tour and was more effective at pushing opponents off the baseline. I also liked the way this racquet came through on slice shots; the ball stayed low, and the racquet felt stable at all times. I can add targeting to the highlights list of this racquet, too. My shots didn't fly on me, and the comfort and feel always gave me a good idea of where my shots were headed. The Phantom Pro 100P was harder for me to wield, but the benefits of the extra swingweight were clear."

Volleys - Score: 85

The Phantom Pro 100P felt silky smooth and provided good stability for our team when they came to the net. "The overall mass didn't quite match my usual racquet's spec, but the swingweight was what really stood out for me," said Troy. "When I was facing big hitters the Phantom Pro 100P stood its ground and supplied enough stability to block the ball back deep. The high level of flex in the frame gave great feel to every hit. Drop volleys and acute angles felt natural with the Phantom Pro 100P in my hand. While playing doubles, this racquet's combination of stability, touch and a large sweetspot had me feeling as though I could pick my targets, and it gave me the plow through to cut deep penetrating volleys. Initially, my targeting wasn't quite as good as it is with my Revo CX 2.0 Tour 18x20, or even my old Wilson Six. One 98 18x20, but I started adapting to the head size after a few sessions of net practice and doubles sets. Once I started grooving with this racquet, coming to the net to close out points was an effective part of my game."

The maneuverability inside the service line was top notch for Mark. He noted, "Even my half-volley was almost immediately dialed in with this racquet. However, I did have to exert a bit more effort on punch volleys, but only if the passing shot pace was north of freeway speeds."

The Phantom Pro 100P felt solid to Tiffani as she transitioned to the net. She said, "I'm usually testing lighter, stiffer racquets that can be one dimensional in terms of power at the net. With the Phantom Pro 100P my touch shots were better than I can recall them ever being. The weight of this racquet absorbed incoming pace and helped me feel connected to my shots, so I almost always felt in control of my volleys."

Solid and stable, yet also maneuverable, the Phantom Pro 100P felt very natural in Chris' hands at net. He said, "I enjoyed the comfortable response and the touch, and I loved how pinpoint-accurate my shots were. I felt like I had a classic racquet in my hands on touch shots but was rewarded with a more modern, faster feel and a bigger sweetspot. I always like to attack the net, and I was happy to have this racquet in my hands every time I did."

Serves - Score: 80

Despite all the positives up to this point, our team struggled slightly with the Phantom Pro 100P on their serves. The lower-powered response had most of them pining for their current racquets of choice.

As with most of the control-oriented frames Mark has played with, this racquet allowed him to be more precise and required him to supply his own power to achieve his desired result. He said, "The positive for me on serve was that it was easy for me to transition from the serve to the next shot, whether it was a groundstroke or volley. I wasn't getting too many cheap points off my serve, but the follow-up shot was almost always predictable and easy for me to hit. I was able to open up the court and end points sooner than usual."

Troy found this racquet to be a spin monster on serve. He said, "The open string pattern and the low-powered response of this racquet allowed me to attack my serves with maximum racquet head speed, which kept the ball diving down into the service box. The Phantom Pro 100P's big spin window helped me generate heavy spin on my kick serves, which can be somewhat difficult with smaller head sizes and thicker beams. I wasn't raving over the boost in power on my flat serves, especially after recently wrapping up the playtest for the Babolat Pure Drive Tour Plus. There wasn't much raw power on tap compared to that racquet, which is stiffer and longer. That being said, this Phantom Pro 100P gave me good power on serves compared to the smaller headsize player's racquets that I keep in my racquet bag. I wasn't quite as precise in hitting my locations within the service box compared to my Revo CX 2.0 Tour 18x20, but the precision was top notch compared to other 100 square inch racquets I've playtested — right up there with smaller racquets such as the Wilson Blade 98 16x19 and Yonex EZONE 98."

"I served decently with this racquet," said Chris. "It offered just enough mass to help me out. Still, I missed the easy power of my Tecnifibre TFlash 300 PS. I had to focus on aiming higher to get the same amount of depth. Once adjusted, I found I could be very aggressive with my serves and still find ample control. It felt easy to generate spin, so I was going after second serves as well."

For Tiffani, the serve was the stroke that really let her know that this racquet's specs were out of her comfort zone. She explained, "I'm fairly one dimensional when it comes to serves to begin with, and even with a Pure Drive I can only generate a modicum of spin on my serves. I really struggled to hit my second serve with the Phantom Pro 100P. I like to put more spin on the second serve, but I just couldn't get enough racquet head speed to do this effectively. I often dropped my second serves too short when I tried to add spin. My flat serve was much better, but it's not reliable enough to use it as both a first and second serve, so I saw my double fault numbers creep up. I did enjoy how this racquet went up and through the hitting zone on my flat serves, and I hit a few good ones. Unfortunately, the Phantom Pro 100P was a bit out of my league on serves."

Returns - Score: 85

Our team's experiences with the Phantom Pro 100P's stable feel and lower-powered response on serve returns spanned the spectrum from positive to negative. Tiffani was right in the middle, saying, "Although the Phantom Pro 100P was not as forgiving as the racquets I typically play with, I felt surprisingly comfortable with it on returns. I shortened my backswing and focused on the fundamentals to make it work for me. The Phantom Pro 100P is more stable than my usual Prince racquet, and it drove my returns deep into the court. This racquet didn't let me get away with as many mishits, but on the flip side, it wasn't punishing my arm on mis-hits either. The Phantom Pro 100P's stability and flex made my mis-hits less jarring, the trade-off being that my mis-hits went over the net less frequently."

Having the most problems with his returns, Mark critiqued, "This was the area of the playtest where I began to long for a more powerful frame. The Phantom Pro 100P's overall weight and balance are precisely what I like, but its thin, flexible beam made it a challenge for me to begin points any way other than defensively."

The control and spin Chris found with this racquet made it a great option for him on returns. He said, "I was able to redirect pace well and control the ball right to my targets. I got enough spin to let me swing aggressively without fear of overhitting. For a light and decently maneuverable racquet, I thought it offered a lot of stability. The result was a racquet that let me get creative on my returns."

Troy found the most success of the team on returns. He raved, "This was definitely one of my favorite racquets to return serves with. I would put it in an elite class, alongside the Donnay Pro One Oversize and Head Agassi Radical Limited Edition. The large sweetspot, paired with the uber plush and stable feel, made me want to step in and rip aggressive returns. I found that as long as I squared up the racquet face to the ball and followed through, my returns were always effective. This racquet was just what I needed when I was facing bigger servers who hit with heavy spin. The large sweetspot, compared to my own racquet, helped me get more returns back in play. I was shanking fewer returns off my backhand side, and even if I missed the sweetspot the response was still relatively plush. Some of the returns I shanked with recent playtest racquets, like the Pure Drive Tour Plus and Dunlop Srixon Revo CV 3.0 F Tour, caused a lot more unwanted shock to my arms. The slice and chip backhand returns I often rely on were landing deep and felt silky smooth with the Phantom Pro 100P in my hands. The low-powered response of this racquet allowed me to crank up the heat on my forehand returns without fear of the ball flying long. I took big swings on my returns when I was playing doubles, which made it difficult for the net player to poach. I placed my returns with good consistency, putting my opponent in a defensive position early in points."

Overall - Score: 85