Follow us on Google Discover Tennis is a sport of fine details, and when it comes to the equipment used by the top players, most do not tend to vary much at all.
Stars on both the ATP and WTA tours will only make small changes in the weight and string tension of their rackets.
There is one player on the men’s side, however, who opts for a vastly different approach to everyone else.
Serena Williams‘ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, recently revealed the ‘master tactician’, whose racket is ‘crazy’.
Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty ImagesPatrick Mouratoglou names the ‘master tactician’ in men’s tennis
In a post on Instagram, Mouratoglou said: “Adrian [Mannarino] is a unique case. First of all, he’s the player whose racket tension is the lowest in history for sure.
“He has eight kilos. I mean, who does that? That’s crazy. How can you play with eight kilos? You ask any player, can you play with 15 kilos, they will say ‘no chance’, and he’s playing with 8.
“But the fact that his tension is so low makes him really feel the ball. There is this, what we call the trampoline effect, where the ball goes into the strings and as the strings are really low tension, it throws the ball back, so it gives a lot of power, but much less control.
“So he has a crazy touch to be able to control the ball with the eight-kilo racket. Why? Because he’s a player who is a typical counter-puncher. He is not someone who is going to try to dictate. It is not his style at all.
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
“He’s going to always play the zones with the height that is the best possible, so you cannot attack, and if you attack, you’re going to miss by taking too much risk.
“He covers the court extremely well, and he has a backhand that is quite unique. His technique is completely atypical. His tension is atypical.
“It’s really interesting to watch him because he is definitely a master tactician, and he has to be. He has this lefty serve that is crazy because he finds unbelievable angles.
“He returns extremely well, and if you look at his career, he’s done a lot of great things, because it’s so difficult to play that way.”
Adrian Mannarino’s career statistics on the ATP Tour
Since turning professional in 2004, Adrian Mannarino has managed to clinch five ATP titles and reach a career high of 17th in the world.
It was not until 2019 that the Frenchman claimed his first tour-level crown, emerging victorious in ‘s-Hertogenbosch that year.
He won in Winston-Salem in 2022, and in 2023, he had his best year, triumphing in Newport, Astana, and Sofia.
At Grand Slams, Mannarino has only ever gone as far as the fourth round, which he recently managed at this year’s US Open before losing to Jiri Lehecka.