Breakdown

Groundstrokes: 8.6

When it came to groundies, our testers were all drawn in to the speedy and powerful experience of the TFight 300. The inherent spin and swing speed made for a seriously imposing racquet to be on the other end of. Brittany was happy to see this new racquet be introduced into the line, and she found lots of ways to make the frame work to her advantage. Elaborating, she said, "I feel like Tecnifibre made this new model of TFight just for me. In the previous generation I liked certain aspects of both the 295 and 300, and Tecnifibre combined my favorite specs of each racquet all into one. I noticed right off the bat, the TFight 300 is very user friendly. It was very easy to maneuver and create spin. My groundstrokes were landing deep in the court thanks to a higher launch angle. There were decent levels of control, but I noticed I had a decent bump in power as well. By the end of the playtest, one thing I noted was when I was missing my groundstrokes, most of them were landing long, and the racquet was a little flighty at times. To maintain control, I had to dial it back a little and utilize the spin potential. I didn't feel like the racquet was as solid feeling as other racquets in that weight range, and my slice was just OK."

This racquet fell right in line with what Jason typically desires from a racquet in terms of power and spin access. He noted, "I had a lot of fun hitting with this racquet from the baseline. It seemed to be a great fit for my playing style, and the racquet offers features that I find important like great maneuverability and access to spin. I was also noticing that my shots had nice clearance over the net, which resulted in more depth. The one drawback for me was on my backhand slice. I felt like it was tough to hit low, penetrating slices. With this racquet, my slices tended to float a bit."

Tiffani's experience with the racquet proved to be a mostly rewarding experience, although she typically opts for flatter control frames, instead of power-spin frames. Clarifying further, she said, "I typically like 100-square-inch head sizes and the TFight line's blend of power and control, so I had high expectations going into this review. As I started rallying, I found easier depth and pace than I have from other TFights in the line. Although it's very similar in specs to the TFight 300S, the 98-square-inch version, I could distinguish some differences between the two. There's easier net clearance, which makes it easier to hit with depth with the 100-square-inch TFight 300. As a flat ball hitter, I found it necessary to be more intentional with my use of topspin on my groundstrokes to keep the ball falling inside the lines when hitting with the TFight 300. In the end I preferred the 98-square-inch head size in stock form because it felt slightly more solid and more natural for me since I didn't feel the need to change my stroke to get the ball to land in reliably. However, I think players who play a loopier, more topspin-oriented game will like this 100-square-inch version a lot."

Oak was surprised by this frame, noting its distinct geometry relative to the rest of the family. He explained, "When we first began playtesting these new TFights, we were hitting them all side by side. Right away, I was drawn to the 300 (100-square-inch hoop) variant of the frame. In particular, I noticed the inlaid throat grommets as a stark contrast to the rest of the line, which have slightly extended bumpers in the throat piece. This felt like a nice way to tighten up the mains, this being the largest head size in the family. The first thing I noticed about this frame was how fast it was through the air, just downright whippy compared to its predecessor and siblings. TFights have always felt unusually maneuverable to me, but this was taking it to a new level. I enjoy how 100s feel across the ball, doing my best to make good use of the elongated spin window larger head sizes possess. For my more defensive-oriented game, this racquet kept me in points when I was on the back foot."

Volleys: 8.4

Up at the net, the racquet shone for our testers. The inherent spin capability of the frame allowed Oak to easily shape balls on either side. He noted, "Volleys with this racquet were immensely satisfying. I felt like I could get to any ball with plenty of time, and the crispier feeling of the racquet encouraged going for aggressive touch shots on either side. The spin capability/window of the frame also made shaping balls quite doable, and I liked how volleys felt coming off of the racquet. I felt connected to my shots and in control of the point at net."

Likewise for Tiffani, the frame helped her to dig out low balls. She explained, "At net I appreciated the slightly more forgiving stringbed of the TFight 300. It felt fast and stable enough for my needs. I was getting easier launch on my stab volleys, so it felt like more of those were going over the net to keep me alive in the point."

Brittany found continued success at the net, allowing her to drive volleys deep to put pressure on her opponents constantly. She said, "I had a very similar experience up at net as I did groundstrokes. One thing that did stand out to me was the feel. The racquet felt very responsive and that led to me feeling connected to the racquet overall. This translated to having the ability to hit a variety of volleys. However, I found myself keeping it simple and punching the majority of my volleys deep in the court (which was very easy to do)."

Similarly for Jason, the impressive feel of the frame encouraged him to trust his shotmaking. He said, "I liked how quick and whippy the racquet was up at net, and the feel was really nice too. This update provided a solid and firm feel but not too stiff, so I did feel well connected to my shots."

Serves: 8.3

Serving with this TFight 300 was a so-so experience for our team on the whole. While they appreciated the power and spin the frame consistently offered, the overall mass left a little to be desired in terms of plowing through the ball. For Tiffani, she wasn't able to tap into as much pace as she would've liked. She noted, "This TFight 300 got the job done on serve. What I liked most was how easily it was swinging. I could go for any serve because the racquet was easy to maneuver over my head, but pace and spin were just middle of the road. I relied mostly on hitting slice and placing the ball to be effective. Still I found a good rhythm and didn't tire during service games."

Likewise for Oak, serves proved a little less obedient than he would've liked. He clarified, "Serving with this racquet was a mostly pleasing experience, but this was probably my least favorite part of the playtest. Thankfully, the easy power and spin afforded by the frame's geometry allowed me to prioritize spot-serving and arcing through the ball, and I never felt like I had to rely on pace for results. I really enjoyed serves out wide on the ad side with this TFight, but overall I felt like I just wanted more from the frame in this area."

Brittany had more success than the others with this frame on serve, but she primarily relied on spin and angles to be effective. She explained, "I loved the extra MPHs I got on first serves thanks to the ability to generate racquet head speed and upped power levels, but I did find myself utilizing the slice more at different targets. I could pull my opponent out wide and off the court on the deuce side to open up the court. I could also aim into the body on both sides and handcuff my opponent. With second serves, I found that they were landing deep in the box but could land long if I wasn't careful. A more conscious snap of the wrist helped solve that problem, but I was never fully comfortable hitting second serves."

For Jason, the serving experience was pleasing overall, and he found good consistency. He clarified, saying, "My serves felt dialed in with this racquet. It was very easy to serve with and be consistent with. I think the open string pattern provided great spin, which translated to higher margins for error. Was it the most powerful serving racquet? No. It lacks the mass for that, but I didn't mind that too much because of my high first serve percentage."

Returns: 8.3

Our team was thankful for the power access afforded to them on returns, and the mass of this TFight 300 was neatly offset by the additional stability from Tecnifibre's foam-filled interior. Brittany is the kind of player who weaponizes her return, but with this racquet she didn't notice anything exemplary. However, she still found ways to make the frame viable for her, noting, "I wouldn't say anything stood out positively or negatively when it came to returns. I had a small adjustment period to dial in my returns because they were easy to overhit. Once I added some additional spin to get my shots to drop, I felt like I could pick an assortment of targets and really go after them. There were a couple times when I hit outside the sweetspot and felt the racquet got pushed around. I will say this happened on several different strokes but most notable on returns."

When he was hitting clearly on return, Jason quite liked how this TFight 300 responded on serve. He said, "I knew that I'd like this racquet on slower first and second serves because I could swing away, but I was surprised that the racquet did pretty well against bigger serves. It wasn't nearly as unstable as I thought it would be for its swingweight. However, I thought off-center mishits had a bigger drop-off in performance compared to racquets of similar weight but with slightly higher swingweights."

For Oak, the lack of available angles was nicely offset by the easy pace and spin he could generate. He noted, "Returning with this TFight was a mostly rewarding experience. I didn't have incredible angular capability with this racquet, but it made up for it with great depth and pace. Instead of relying on angles to return effectively, I concentrated more on rolling the ball back with a shorter backswing, which allowed me to take time away from my opponent by putting the ball at their feet. On second serves, it was easier to hit my spots more aggressively and use court positioning more to my advantage."

Tiffani found herself desiring some additional stability on returns, but she still found accessible avenues for success. She explained, "When returning I noticed this racquet didn't feel quite as solid as the TFight 300S, even though the specs are very similar. When I missed the sweetspot, there was some flutter that I noticed less of with the 98-square-inch version."

Breakdown Summary