ORIGINAL SPIN:
The Prince
Graphite

You always remember your first. The one that gets under your skin, causes complete infatuation and ruins you for all that follow. No matter how many others there are, no matter how many options come your way, they always pale in comparison. For me, when it comes to tennis racquets, that distinction will always reside with the Prince Original Graphite.

If you went to tennis camp in the mid-to-late 1980s, there were three frames that most of the top players wielded: the Wilson Pro Staff, the Head Prestige and the Prince Original Graphite. When I arrived at my first camp, I didn’t own any of them. Maybe it was the rock-solid feel from the cross-bar stabilizer in the throat, the hefty spin production from the open string pattern or the iconic stealthy green-and-black cosmetics—yeah, it was probably the cosmetics—but the Prince landed in my crosshairs. I had to have it.

It also didn’t hurt that some of the most exciting young pros were using the frame. I remember watching Andre Agassi play Ivan Lendl in the 1988 US Open semis with unprecedented flair and aggression, cracking the ball unlike any player I had ever seen. Although Agassi lost that day, slighted by Lendl as just a “forehand and a haircut,” I still wanted that forehand—I couldn’t pull off the feathered blond ’do.

But since the serve was my best shot and I never shied away from the net, I opted for the more maneuverable Graphite Mid (93 sq. in.) instead of the Oversize (107 sq. in.). And truth be told, at that point in my tennis life it was out of my league. We shared some magical moments together, but it was to be an unrequited love—the frame was ultimately too demanding. A few years later, when the Graphite II came along with its larger head size and thicker beam, I gave in to its easier power and roomier sweet spot.

Over the ensuing years I tried to stay in the Graphite family. I spent some time with the inferior Triple

Threat version, and the less that is said about the poorly conceived EXO3 edition, the better. It pains me that, unlike the Prestige and Pro Staff, the Graphite has ceased to be relevant. It’s long gone from the tour, and juniors regard its existence as folklore.

However, a few years ago, Prince rolled out an updated Classic Graphite Midplus that was lighter and more user-friendly than the Original Graphite. After some tinkering—I replaced the synthetic grip with a leather one (it’s not a Graphite without a leather grip) and put lead tape on the hoop to get the weight over 12 oz. like the Original—I was smitten all over again. Using it, I enjoyed perhaps my best season since those days at tennis camp. There’s just something about your first.