EMMA RADUCANU plays with a SPRAY PAINTED racket to hide a major secret.
The queen of British tennis, 19, famously stormed to US Open glory last summer and will be desperate to shine at Wimbledon again this year.
But she will not be doing it with the racket most casual viewers think she is actually using.
Avid watchers of Raducanu over the last year will be used to the black and green Wilson model – with a new “copper green” shade in recent months with the newest launch.
Both ‘models’ have served her well since she made the switch back to Wilson thanks to Mark Petchey’s insight and expertise after a brief trial with Yonex during lockdown.
The colour scheme means it did look like a Wilson Blade V7 – which has now been replaced by the V8.
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The V8 model is the version she used at her French Open debut, beating Linda Noskova before crashing out to Aliaksandra Sasnovich 3-6 6-1 6-1 in the second round.
However, it is widely accepted that the racket Raducanu is using on court is instead an old Wilson Steam.
That racket came in a red and white style but its production was discontinued and replaced by the Ultra.
So her manufacturers have taken the original and terminated Steam then painted it copper green and black to make it in the style of the current Blade model.
The Steam was well-liked by plenty of pros because it was regarded as a stiff, powerful and generally user-friendly racket.
And despite being unavailable to buy, it remains a popular choice for Wilson’s tennis stars, especially on the women’s WTA Tour.
It appears Raducanu uses the Steam 100 which is slightly bigger than the Steam 99 used by Elina Svitolina.
The painting tactic is commonly used by players who like discontinued or different models but for sponsorship reasons have to promote the newest releases with the updated or required colourways.
Reports suggest Head painted up a Radical racket as a Speed, the racket they designed specifically for flagship player Novak Djokovic after his struggles with the real thing.
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But tennis coach Calvin Betton from the Love Tennis Podcast revealed it is not just a case of just a different paint job on a standard racket.
He said: “It’s not quite that simple because the pros all have their rackets customised.
“When you get a racket off a shelf, it says 300g and the balance.
“Pros will always mess around with it, put a bit of extra weight on [as Raducanu and Petchey did].
“The reason why you would have a heavier racket is because you want more weight behind it because the ball comes through harder – you don’t want something flimsy and light.
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“Professionals play with heavier rackets than club or social players – averaging around 300g.
“There is no pattern for who would play with a rigid or flexible frame, it is a personal preference.”
