Breakdown

Control: 8.9

When selecting strings, Munish typically opts for a more vibrant setup, visually speaking. As such, he primarily tested the red color variant of the Focus Hex Soft. His overall experience left little to be desired in terms of control, and he leaned into his aggressive spot-targeting to end points from the baseline. He explained, "This string gave me exceptional control, and I was able to place my shots with great confidence and intent. Some credit does go to the higher tension I pulled it at. At 60 pounds, the stringbed did not feel dead at all. In fact, I had my racquet restrung from 55 pounds to 60 pounds because it felt a bit too lively for my liking at 55 pounds tension. I trusted the stringbed, and that allowed me to swing into the ball with confidence. Serving was especially fun because this string allowed me to direct the ball regardless of the type of serve I was hitting."

Oak chose to test Focus Hex Soft in two relatively stiff but entirely different frames: a Babolat Pure Drive 2021 and a Wilson Pro Staff Six.One 95 18x20 v13. As promised, the string softened the overall experience in both racquets without sacrificing any control. He said, "The control offered by Focus Hex Soft is immaculate, and I felt like I knew just what was going on with the ball on every swing. This connection to the stringbed never really dropped for me. The overall control proved to be quite high, with pretty much every shot doing what was asked of it. Focus Hex Soft settled in nicely, without feeling too dead or too lively. Hitting my spots proved doable, and I never felt like my targets were out of reach. Going for full swings with a more comfort-oriented string was a lot of fun because the cushion minimized any unsettling arm impacts. Suffice it to say, Focus Hex Soft lives up to its name while still bringing the premium control one would ask of any high-performance polyester."

Spin: 8.7

In terms of RPMs on the ball, Focus Hex Soft has plenty to offer. While perhaps not in the absolute highest tier of spin strings, Focus Hex Soft still spins the ball very effectively, garnering plenty of motion without asking too much of its users. Munish was delighted by the levels of spin afforded to him on this playtest. He said, "I was able to hit with a lot of racquet head speed with my racquet strung at 60 pounds, and I could feel the string grabbing onto the ball. I enjoyed hitting a lot of drop shots with tons of backspin, and I could trust the stringbed to deliver the spin to make my drop shot effective."

Although Focus Hex Soft was not the most spin-friendly string he's ever encountered, Oak still found plenty to like when it came to putting spin on his shots. He described, "In terms of spin production, Focus Hex Soft is definitely better than average, but perhaps nothing too out-of-this-world. The spin access was there of course, and the six-sided shape of the string definitely bites the ball quite well. However, I am someone who lives and dies by spin (especially on my forehand side), so I am sensitive when a string’s spin access 'tops out,’ so to speak. Thankfully, the threshold of this string spin-wise is fairly high, just not quite in that upper echelon of heavy-spin strings."

Comfort: 9.4

As a unique offering in the polyester world, the overall feel of Focus Hex Soft is perhaps the string's most unusual characteristic. While "feel" means different things to different players, our testers seemed to agree on this string's comfort. For this playtest, Oak primarily worked with two stiffer frames, a Pure Drive and a 95-square-inch 18x20 Pro Staff. He said, "The feel is delicious on this string. It's silky smooth at impact and very responsive during a shot's duration. I also found the auditory nature of the string quite pleasing, and the acoustics boosted my confidence when I was playing with the string. It truly feels like a well-balanced string that understands what experience it is trying to create and succeeds at it."

Munish opted for a frame setup that he is intimately familiar with, selecting his current racquet of choice, the Wilson RF 01 Pro, for his testing at various tensions. A leather grip, high static weight and more combine to make this stick an especially good option for testing a soft, high-performance string. Munish was initially puzzled by this string, but his adjustments proved worth the effort. He explained, "Focus Hex Soft definitely stays true to its name. The stringbed felt soft even at a high tension. In fact, the softness of the string is what allowed me to go higher in tension without worrying about any pain or ache. The string felt soft, yet crisp and firm, which was odd at first, but I got used to it. I could tell where I was contacting the ball on the stringbed every time I hit a stroke. There were some vibrations when the ball hit off center, but nothing that really hurt me."

Playability Duration: 8.2

The ever-dreaded drawback of most polyester strings is their tension maintenance, or lack thereof. While Focus Hex Soft won't be making any chart-topping statements as far as tension maintenance goes, it thankfully doesn't drop down into the dreaded 40 percent and above overall loss category that some high-performance polyesters fall into, according to the Tennis Warehouse University metrics and database. Munish noticed the tension loss with Focus Hex Soft but not to a detrimental degree. He said, "The tension fell fairly quickly for me, and I'd say it was a bit more so than usual. Even after the tension dropped a few pounds, the stringbed still played with decent control. My shots became slightly more launchy, and the stringbed wasn't as crisp, but it wasn't anything unexpected. I played with the string for about 48 hours, and I saw very little notching. Little changed in terms of spin potential and snapback as well, which was the surprising part. I usually find that a loss of tension also means a drop in spin."

Comparatively, Oak's experience with the tension maintenance wasn't as severe. He said, "The tension maintenance on this string is about as expected. Of course, it doesn't last nearly as long as a multifilament or natural gut would, but it holds tension relatively well. Some tension loss started to make itself known at about the 15-hour mark. However, the stringbed didn't 'bag out' in a bad way. It still maintained good playability, and I noticed an uptick in power access and spin production." 

Breakdown Summary