Prince Tour Diablo MP Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 85

Our playtesters were curious to find out whether the Tour Diablo MP would gel with modern polyester-based strings. With experience from the first review in the early 2000s, Chris offered insight on the Diablo's performance with modern strings. He said, "I tested the Tour Diablo MP on its initial release back in 2004, and my main complaint then was that the racquet was a little light. Times have changed — along with my tastes — and the spec of Tour Diablo MP is now a better fit for my swing. I originally tested the racquet with multifilament strings as I hadn't discovered polyester-based strings back then. I was interested to see what a modern co-poly could do for the racquet. Surprisingly, I found I much preferred the response of the racquet with a multifilament string since it played with a better response in the upper hoop. The stringbed felt more consistent and comfortable, and there was less of a drop off in power if I caught the ball a little high in the stringbed. I liked the feel and control I had on both my topspin and slice shots. I had a very good gauge of the depth and direction of my shots and enjoyed the added leverage of the extended length."

Michelle used Prince racquets as a junior player, so she was excited to take a trip down memory lane with the Diablo MP. She said, "I happened to be a big fan of Xavier Malisse, so I was elated to start this playtest, and there was some nostalgia when seeing the Tour Diablo MP in my bag! From first hit, I really liked the distribution of weight and found the racquet to swing fluidly. I was happy to have a little extra length, which helped when plowing through balls. The open 16x18 string pattern offered loads of variety with height on the ball, which for the most part was appreciated but at times left me feeling like I needed a little more control or one extra cross string. On the plus side, angles were fun to execute, even from the baseline, and I found it easy to get the ball to jump off the court with spin. I could really get the tip of the racquet around the ball, and the open pattern helped impart spin when brushing under the ball. There was also a bit of an audible response and vibration off the stringbed. It wasn't a problem for me, but it was noticeable and something we tried to eliminate with several string setups. Pairing it with a deader multifilament string or even a Kevlar hybrid seemed to do the trick, as did a dampener."

Kristen is also quite familiar with Prince racquets. She said, "Coming over from playing with my Prince Textreme Tour 100P, I needed a bit of time to adjust to the thinner box beam feel and the more open 16x18 string pattern, and to dial in the playability. It wasn't long before I was brought back to my days of playing with the Phantom line of racquets, and I was reminded of the playability and style of play that worked best. In a similar fashion, this racquet performed great from the baseline in counterpunching situations and really excelled when I used that open pattern to drive balls deep. The open pattern also equated to easy spin generation, allowing me to utilize a craftier play style to pull opponents out wide with short angles or throw in more slice. There were times when I struggled a bit with precision, particularly when I wanted to take a bigger, more aggressive swing at a slower or shorter ball. I enjoyed this racquet most going up against pace and rallying in those fast-paced baseline exchanges."

Zsofi noted how easy this racquet made it to redirect pace. She described, "On the baseline, the Diablo was an amazing counterpuncher, and if I prepared it on time and hit the ball in the sweetspot (which was actually not so big), it provided a very smooth, fun experience. However, when a bit behind and hitting outside the sweetspot, the racquet was not so forgiving and not as comfortable as I would have wished."

Volleys - Score: 82

With classic roots, it's no surprise that the Prince Tour Diablo MP performed well at net. Across the board, our team favored the quickness and feel on volleys. These characteristics helped the racquet click with Chris' net game. He said, "The Tour Diablo MP felt easy to maneuver and offered a good blend of feel and control at net. I placed my drop and angled volleys accurately with this racquet. I think the added length helped me find some power to put volleys away. I also had solid success cutting under the ball and was able to find ample spin to help keep my volleys out of my opponent's reach."

"The feel of this racquet was great at net," Michelle added. "With a little extra reach and a super maneuverable feel in hand, this racquet kept me in command of my volleys, and I could cover the net well. It felt stable and solid against most players, and I had the ability to mix up aggressive volleys with some touch."

The Diablo MP's mass and extended length made it easy for Kristen to put volleys away. She said, "This racquet felt stable up at net, and I had enough maneuverability to dial in my timing. I found enough mass coming through my volleys to get them deep, along with great feel for touch shots and dropping balls short."

While Zsofi agreed with the other playtesters on the added power from the extra length and open head size, she found it difficult to control short volleys. She said, "The Diablo MP had nice, easy depth with my volleys; however, the racquet did not feel the best for touch shots."

Serves - Score: 86

As Dante once said, "a mighty flame followeth a tiny spark." One could say he was describing the effortless serving power of the Prince Tour Diablo MP. Our playtesters were amazed with its playability in comparison to modern racquets. Zsofi's favorite shot of the playtest was the serve. Describing its easy power, she said, "One shot the racquet truly excelled at for me was the serve. I could really utilize its extended length and generate nice acceleration with the racquet head."

While Kristen prefers standard-length racquets, she still found success on serves with the Tour Diablo MP. She said, "Although this racquet is slightly extended in length, I didn't find that to hinder maneuverability overhead on serves. I found it swung pretty effortlessly overhead, and it was easy to get the ball moving through the court and landing deep in the box. There was also great access to spin for picking my spots."

Chris was satisfied with the Prince Tour Diablo MP's serving performance with various string setups. He said, "The Tour Diablo MP immediately felt like a good fit for my serves. It didn't take much energy for me to generate plenty of racquet head speed, which opened up lots of potential for pace and spin. Despite not using a co-poly string, I was still very happy with the grip I was getting on the ball from the stringbed. I was able to stay on the gas on both my first and second serves, while still being pretty consistent."

Michelle especially appreciated the racquet's performance on spin serves. She explained, "With a fairly open string pattern and a maneuverable feel, this racquet lined up well with my serving strategies. I could access a lot of spin from kicks and never was worried about sacrificing pace. I can't say I was the most dialed in with accuracy, but I went for big targets and was not disappointed."

Returns - Score: 83

As we arrive at the final circle of the journey, our playtesters wrapped up their thoughts on the Prince Tour Diablo MP and its performance on return of serves. Overall, feedback was positive, barring mixed opinions on the small sweetspot and lack of forgiveness during mis-hits. Chris appreciated the quick swing speed and extended length for piercing returns to the baseline. He said, "I liked how easy it was to get the racquet through my swing on returns. The racquet felt fast in my hands yet also solid enough to redirect pace. I found especially good feel on my backhand slice returns and was placing that shot very well. The maneuverable feel of the Tour Diablo MP also allowed me the time to take a good rip at any serves that drifted into my wheelhouse."

As with groundstrokes, Michelle and Kristen discovered that pace was easily redirected during returns. Michelle described, "This racquet did a great job of absorbing pace and allowing me to accelerate even against big first serves. I was in command of my return If I got the racquet back and in position quickly. Plus, angles were available, and I could carve my returns off the court rather than just blast them through the middle. I often notice stability issues on my returns, but I can report that this racquet was stable and didn't wobble or flutter. On softer second serves that just sat up, I could take a big rip and was often rewarded."

"I enjoyed returning with this racquet," Kristen added. "It excelled when I used shorter swings to block back pace, so it handled heavier serves well. I enjoyed tapping into the spin potential and hitting short angled returns, especially on my backhand side."

Zsofi agreed that the Tour Diablo MP made it easy to redirect pace on returns, but she noted some discomfort outside the sweetspot. She explained, "If I timed my returns well and hit the ball in the sweetspot, the shot felt great and had super easy depth through the court. However, the racquet wasn't too forgiving; it tended to feel a bit uncomfortable on returns that were hit slightly off the sweetspot."

Overall - Score: 81