Artengo Tennis Rackets and Tennis Equipment

Ask somebody to call a tennis racket producer; the most typical responses you may obtain are Wilson, Head or Babolat.

They’re the ‘Large 3′ of the racket world; the most effective gamers on tour use them, they’ve the largest advertising spends and have been round for a few years, which is why they’re so well-known.

One title you will not hear too typically exterior of mainland Europe is Artengo. Once I examined considered one of their rackets within the UK, a number of individuals requested me who they had been as they’d by no means seen them earlier than.

This lesser-known tennis racket model is owned by Decathlon, a French sporting items retailer with over 1,697 shops in 60 nations.

Sometimes, whenever you consider most massive retailers with their very own branded tennis gear, you consider low cost aluminium rackets and youngsters’ play units that include some foam balls and a web.

Nevertheless, Artengo may be very a lot a severe participant with regards to tennis. They’ve a devoted racket sports activities division, seek the advice of with ex-pros and make investments loads of $$$ in product design and testing.

Together with that, they not too long ago signed Gael Monfils and Daria Kasatkina as their model ambassadors and have a full complement of tennis gear, together with strings, rackets, balls, luggage, and equipment.

I’ve talked about Artengo a number of instances within the feedback on different posts, and in latest weeks I’ve lastly gotten round to testing out a few of their merchandise which had been:

My verdict? I am impressed.

Artengo Rackets

The Artengo TR960 Precision Racket is a 300g, 100 sq. inch racket developed in partnership with Steve Darcis, Oliver Marach and Nicolas Escudé.

That sounds nice, however does it do something higher than different rackets available on the market? The reply isn’t any, however the kicker right here is that it is half the worth of the rackets it’s competing with.

On the time of writing, the TR960 Precision racket is £79.99 ($99.99), which is an absolute steal.

For comparability’s sake, a Babolat Pure Drive will set you again $249, however there isn’t any approach you’re getting 2.5 instances the racket.

I’m exhausting pressed to see any elementary variations in high quality, possibly the Artengo butt caps look a bit low cost, however the paint and general really feel are comparable to each racket I’ve examined this 12 months, barring maybe the Yonex Ezone 98, which feels ultra-premium whenever you maintain it.

Anyway, at this pricing degree, Artengo is throwing a little bit of a spanner into the works as not solely is the TR960 wallet-friendly, it performs nice too.

Often, with rackets at this worth level, you get corners reduce, however the TR960 is a excessive modulus carbon body, and I used to be very impressed after I hit it. I’ll do a full evaluation after just a few extra hours on courtroom.

Through my racket finder tool, I get many individuals asking me for budget-friendly frames, and till now, I often level them within the course of a Head Intuition or looking for a sale racket.

Nevertheless, primarily based on the TR960, Artengo is now firmly on my advocate record as I do not assume you’ll find a greater worth: efficiency.

Subsequently, in case you are new to tennis or on a tighter funds, Artengo is defacto the racket model you need to look into. The TR960 additionally comes prestrung, so it is able to play instantly.

Artengo TR960 Precision Racket Specification

My racket was barely over spec at 323.1g strung. I’ve not but taken unstrung measurements because the racket got here prestrung, so I will wait till it’s time to restring to seize these; I’m estimating it’s round 305g unstrung.

I might think about at this worth, high quality management will not be the very best with Artengo, however the firms who’re double the worth even have the identical points, so that you’re probably not any worse off; I’ve weighed sticks over $250 that may be 10g off in static weight.

Artengo Tennis Balls

I’ve written a prolonged publish concerning the best tennis balls, with my favorite in all probability being the Tecnifibre X-One ball.

Nevertheless, I’ll quickly be including Artengo to the record as, identical to their rackets, Artengo Tennis Balls are attractively priced and an identical in efficiency.

In fact, that is no shock as there are solely three factories on the earth that make tennis balls, so so long as you fuse pure rubber with a excessive % of pure felt, you’re going to get a good finish product.

For instance, a can of 4 x Tecnifibre X-One balls are 72% pure felt and value round £7.50. A can of 4 x Artengo TB930 balls has 75% pure felt and prices £6.99. Not an enormous saving, but it surely quickly mounts up given how repeatedly you want new balls in the event you play typically.

I examined the TB530 and the TB920 balls on my first outing with the TR960 racket.

The TB530 is their ‘third finest’ ball within the lineup, with the TB920 and TB930 being their extra premium balls, the previous getting used on the Moselle Open, which is an ATP 250. 

I discovered the TB530 a good coaching ball, which is an effective purchase for the leisure degree. For instance, they’re higher than Wilson Extremely Membership and Head Championship balls, which they compete with.

Nevertheless, for extra severe play, I might go together with the TB920 ball, which was nicer to play with, extra premium and jogged my memory of Yonex and Tecnifibre balls.

The one factor I’m not an enormous fan of is the textual content/font they use on the balls, it has zero impression on play high quality, in fact, however it isn’t my favorite aesthetically. What do you assume?

For a extra thorough evaluation of the TB920, watch the video beneath by the Tennis Man on YouTube, which is a helpful channel for gear fans; test it out:

Artengo Overgrips

Artengo provides comfort, absorbent and tacky overgrips in packs of three. They’re priced at £4.99 ($6.99)

I examined the absorbent grip in white on the TR960 racket and was impressed. If I hadn’t seen the packaging earlier than, I might have thought it was the cheesy overgrip because it has a cheesy really feel.

Just like the rackets and balls, it’s similar to my different favourite overgrips available on the market, and I appreciated it as a result of the periphery has a lip on it, which suggests you possibly can line up the grip completely for a uniform overlap.

The one unfavorable for me can be eradicating the plastic movie on them. On all three, the crimson tab to assist peel it got here off first, so I needed to faff round making an attempt to separate it with my nail. Probably a foul batch.

Artengo Tennis Strings

Together with the TR960 racket, I additionally tried Artengo’s TA990 string, a co-polyester monofilament made in Portugal.

On my early testing, it provides glorious consolation, is high-powered for poly and jogs my memory of Yonex Poly Tour Professional.

TA990 Energy is an effective alternative for the next normal newbie or intermediate participant as at a decrease stress in the appropriate body, TA990 will not trigger any arm points. It gives some free energy whereas giving some first rate spin potential and management.

A single pack is available in at £9.99 ($9.99) or £64.99 ($50) for a 200m reel. The reel, particularly, is great. $50 works out to $2.70 per restring in the event you string your self.

Ultimate Ideas

Thus far, all of the Artengo merchandise I’ve examined have impressed me, particularly the rackets, given the worth level.

I intention to check a few of their different gear as soon as I’ve cleared my record of merchandise to evaluation, as the baggage and sneakers additionally look good.

Hopefully, they do not begin handing out large endorsement cash and must triple their costs earlier than I get round to it. 😁

Have you ever tried any Artengo merchandise? Obtained suggestions on them? Or questions? Are they already common (or rising) in your nation/space? Let me know within the feedback.