Prince Vortex String Review

Control - Score: 71 / Power - Score: 70

As a poly-based monofilament, Vortex is a control string by design, especially when compared to natural gut or the wider community of nylon-based synthetic strings. However, when measured against its polyester peers, Vortex is definitely on the powerful end of the spectrum. The good news for Erik is that it still managed to deliver plenty of control. He explained, "Vortex was quite powerful and lively for a co-poly. Part of this is because of the softening agents that Prince added to this string. I still got a good amount of control thanks to the deep ball pocket and high spin potential. I also bumped up the tension about 4 pounds from my usual tension."

"My first impression of this string was that it felt soft and lively," added Troy, who tinkered to get more control. "When strung at the tension that I typically use, I noticed a high level of elasticity for a co-poly. This resulted in a deep ball pocket compared to other co-polys, and the ball seemed to launch a bit farther than my go-to string, Volkl Cyclone. Vortex's increase in power was even more significant when compared to Solinco Hyper-G, which I use to test a lot of different racquets. I strung Vortex in many racquets and tried various tensions. For my first restring during this playtest, I increased tension by 3 pounds. This gave me more control and predictability. During the next couple of restrings I tried using the pre-stretch function on our electronic constant pull machine with hopes of gaining better tension maintenance. I noticed that this helped to deaden the feel of the string, and I started to feel more confident in the control level. With the slightly higher tension and a 10-percent pre-stretch, I was able to dial in the control on my shots. Even after all these adjustments, I never felt quite as confident taking big swings with Vortex as I do with Hyper-G or Luxilon 4G, but I was able to achieve the more consistent, predictable response that I expect from a co-poly."

Spin - Score: 88

With its hexagonal profile and phenomenal pocketing, Vortex is one of the more spin-friendly strings our playtesters have tried. It also boasts one of the top spin scores in our TWU string lab. Needless to say, Troy was impressed. He said, "Spin was great. The surface had a slick feel, which seemed to work well for performance. The snap-back sensation was evident when hitting heavy topspin groundstrokes. I also noticed that I never really had to straighten the strings after a long rally. This is typically a good sign that the strings are snapping back as the ball leaves, which helps maximize spin. Although it has a noticeable shape, the edges are not excessively sharp, like a Weiss CANNON Ultra Cable. I found the spin potential of this string to be right up there with Babolat RPM Blast, Volkl Cyclone and Double AR Diablo. I hit some of my biggest spin groundstrokes and kick serves using the 17-gauge Prince Vortex paired with the Babolat Pure Aero Plus. I felt like I was able to maximize the rotation on the ball with this combination."

Like Troy, Erik was more than pleased with Vortex’s access to spin. He described, "I got great spin from this string. Balls that I thought were going long would suddenly drop in the court. Looking at the Tennis Warehouse University database, Vortex actually ranks in the top 15 in our list, which is quite high, and I'm glad that the numbers translated to my on-court experience. When accelerating fast, I felt an extremely deep ball pocket followed by a noticeable snap back, which shot the ball off with loads of spin. The snap back also meant that I never had to adjust my strings back into place, which is always a bonus."

Comfort - Score: 80 / Feel - Score: 75

During the development phase, Prince devoted some extra time to tweaking the material compound of Vortex to create a softer playing poly. According to our team, that time was well spent. Vortex received one of the highest comfort scores awarded to a co-poly. In addition to the high comfort level, Erik was also impressed by Vortex’s feel and responsiveness on touch shots. He said, "This string was extremely comfortable for me. I felt like I could string it up almost as tightly as I wanted for control without worrying about my arm. Although on the softer side, it wasn't mushy. I would say it felt just a tad softer than strings like Volkl Cyclone. I tend to hit a lot of drop shots and slices in my game, so this was a big part of the playtest for me. I really enjoyed the plush feel of this string and found myself enjoying hitting drop volleys and touch shots, so Vortex checked all of the boxes in that department. At times the ball would fly on me when I was hitting a slice due to that livelier response, but when I adjusted my weight transition moving forward and made sure I stayed down low on my slice, I could really knife it with easy power."

For Troy, Vortex not only had great pocketing, but it also added some welcome comfort to his stiff racquet. He explained, "Soft and muted were my initial thoughts when hitting with this string. During the first portion of this playtest, prior to increasing the tension and pre-stretching this string, I noticed the elasticity and springiness Vortex possessed. After about a week of hitting it started to bag out and become less lively. I loved the soft feel of this co-poly when paired with a stiffer frame like the Babolat Pure Aero Plus. I could feel the sting pocketing the ball well. Even when I cranked up the tension and used a 10-percent pre-stretch, Vortex still felt comfortable. With that added tension and the pre-stretch, the springiness of this string was less evident, and I could control my shots much better."

Playability Duration - Score: 73

There’s no way around it: all tennis strings lose tension over time, especially soft co-polys like Vortex. This is why many professional tennis players change racquets several times during the course of a single match. The good news for Erik was that the playability of Vortex remained quite high after the initial tension loss. He said, "This string became quite lively, especially after it lost its initial tension, but it settled in nicely and maintained good playability after that drop. I think part of the reason this string still maintained playability was its deep ball pocket and its slickness. When the tension dropped the ball pocketing became enhanced, so I was able to acquire more access to spin if I was accelerating fast enough. I tend to cut out my strings after a week-and-a-half to two weeks, especially in my preferred 17 gauge. This is because I tend to hit a lot of spin, so usually I'll either snap strings or they will die on me when the coating wears down and the tension drops way below what I prefer. After about a week-and-a-half with Vortex I didn’t notice much notching, which was a good sign. Also, this string is only $7, which is definitely a plus in my book because I tend to snap strings relatively fast, especially with the more open string pattern in the racquet that I use. Overall, Vortex was quite durable and did not snap on me. For reference, I will usually snap Hyper-G 17 in about a week-and-a-half of daily play."

Vortex held no surprises for Troy when it came to tension maintenance and playability duration. He noted, "I have likely played with 100-plus poly monofilament strings over the years and have come to the conclusion that softer co-polys like Vortex tend to lose tension faster than stiffer ones. That's not necessarily groundbreaking news for those who are well versed in the tennis string industry. The tension maintenance of Vortex was comparable to Double AR Diablo and Polyfibre TCS, which are also very soft and comfortable co-poly strings. I would give this string about a solid week of play (around five hours) before I felt like I wanted to cut it out and re-string. The pre-stretching seemed to help Vortex skip that initial significant drop in tension and get straight to the settling phase. There is an obvious difference between this Vortex and strings like Solinco Hyper-G and Luxilon 4G when it comes to playability duration, but that’s the price you pay for using a soft, co-poly monofilament string."

Overall - Score: 79