Following my review of the T-Fight RS 305 I now get to try out the other side of the racket spectrum with the snow-white and brand new Tecnifibre TF-X1. A beautiful frame to look at and also very nice to let go through the hands due to the matte finish. The TF-X1 is a new racket in the comfort category and an interesting competitor of the Wilson Clash 100. The Tecnifibre TF-X1 300 tested by Stephan!
Tester
Specifications
Racket review
I’ve been talking a lot lately about the importance of adding more comfort-oriented racquets to the market, due to my tennis elbow. Some brands, like Pro Kennex, build their entire brand around arm comfort. HEAD offers enough racquet lines to cover the comfort category with the Gravity and soft Prestige racquets, Wilson has the famous Clash line, Prince has the Phantom racquets and Diadem has the Nova and Elevate series. Now Tecnifibre has launched the TF-X1.
A quick technical story. The Tecnifibre TF-X1 comes with the technology of the Lacoste L 20. It is called the X-Damp and should dampen 36% of the harmful vibrations that come through the handle. It is a kind of damper built into a silicone block in the handle. In my experience, this technology works quite well, despite the RA value of 71 and a full bed of Diadem Flash strings, I was able to play without pain in my elbow. That was immediately a huge boost. It is nice when you can still lift your glass of sports drink at the bar after an intensive session. The Tecnifibre TF-X1 300 is not as soft and flexy as the Clash, but it does give you as a player a bit more power and comparable spin properties to the Wilson Clash 100. To be honest, the RA value surprised me. During play, the TF-X1 felt much more comfortable than, for example, a Pure Aero with a comparable RA value.
Baseline
The Tecnifibre TF-X1 is a powerful weapon. You need to hit with a lot of spin to tame the power, otherwise the balls can quickly fly long. But if spin is your thing, then you will have a lot of fun with this blade. After the first stroke exchange it is clear that the Tecnifibre TF-X1 has a lot of power and is remarkably easy to get around considering its considerable swing weight. It immediately feels like a slightly more controllable Wilson Clash 100. I felt that the TF X1 has a great balance between spin and power and both are also controllable. That seems to be how the built-in technology works. It felt very easy to hit deep into the back line from the baseline. I do notice that, just like with all other power blades, you also have to be careful with the Tecnifibre TF X1 300 that you do not fly out of the bend. A little more spin helps to keep the balls within the lines. Furthermore, the TF X1 feels remarkably solid from the baseline. Slice balls also come off the blade well. Mainly because of the mature weight of this frame. I think the Tecnifibre TF-X1 is definitely a strong competitor from the baseline for the Babolat Pure Drive or the Wilson Clash, but also the Dunlop FX 500 comes close. What this racket does better than the Wilson Clash 100 is adding more controlled power to your shots.
It is clearly a frame for players who like to play aggressively from the baseline. With both my forehand and backhand I can hit hard and because of the good weight the balls are heavy that thud on the other side of the baseline.
Volleys
At the net it was easy to volley with the Tecnifibre TF-X1. Despite the weight it was not difficult to maneuver the racket quickly. The racket feels solid, which allowed me to hit the volleys well and put them away. You can feel the power of this racket during the smashes. The balls just explode off it. To be honest, the volleying went better than expected. My expectation of a power frame is that it is more unstable than my own Prince Synergy 98, but that was not the case at all. An absolute plus for the Tecnifibre TF-X1! It is clear that in terms of feel the frame is not the most suitable for volleying. But putting it away firmly is no problem at all.
Serve
As expected, serving was very easy with the Tecnifibre TF-X1. Even when I didn't try to hit the balls that hard, I felt that I got enough power from the racket to hit the corners. Similar to the baseline shots, I had more than enough controlled power with the serve. Returning with the TF-X1 300 was also very good. Although I have recently become accustomed to the swingweight (330) of the Prince Synergy 98; then you lose some stability on the return. I sometimes had to hold the blade well with hard serves to prevent it from being pushed away. But don't get me wrong, for a power blade the Tecnifibre TF-X1 has a good weight and you can hit returns well and deep.
The TF-X1 300 from Tecnifibre is now available in our webshop, including free stringing of your choice!
Conclusion
The Tecnifibre TF-X1 300 is not as comfortable and flexy as the Wilson Clash 100, but offers more power and stability. I think this is a solid choice for intermediate baseliners who want a little help from the racquet without the stiffness that almost always comes with power frames like the Pure Drives and Pure Aeros.