Construction: Co-Polyester

Color: Black

Gauge: 16G (1.30 mm), or 17G (1.25 mm)

Length: 40 feet (12.2 M)

Test Racquet / Tension
Wilson Ultra 100 CV Reverse/1.30 mm @ 55 lbs

Intro
Dunlop Srixon is a brand known for its racquets, but what about their string? Some players may know them for their Synthetic Gut or Black Widow string which are popular to this day. However, the brand is stepping up its game to compete with many of the big string brands in the polyester/monofilament market. NT Max Plus is their new revolutionary co-polyester string that features a unique outside coating to prevent loss of tension and promotes longer lasting performance. Players will get more ball control, acceleration and rotation while maintaining high levels of control and feel. Intrigued by the details of this string, I was very interested in testing it out to see how it compared to Luxilon Alu Power and RPM Blast.

Power/Spin/Control
From the first moment I put this string in my frame I was unsure how it was going to play. Although it is a co-polyester with increased power and spin, I was afraid that control would be very lacking. However, once I took it out on court and started hitting, I felt very confident in my game and wanted to play as long as possible with this string. Being a softer co-poly it gave me great amounts of power, spin and feel even with it strung at a higher tension. I could feel the ball staying on the string bed longer than normal and I was surprised at how well I could accurately place my shots. Control was the biggest surprise for me. I was expecting most shots to go long since it does have a high level of power. But no matter what shot I was hitting on the court, I never felt the ball sailed on me. After about 10 hours of play I did notice some slight variations in the tension which resulted in a little more power and less control. Players that want more control will want to string around 55 lbs+ because the power takes over right away.

Feel / Comfort
As expected with this softer co-poly, I was very pleased with the amount of feel and comfort I got when I started playing. I could easily feel the ball impact the string bed on every shot I hit. Slices and volleys got plenty of touch allowing me to hit dropshots and incredible angles from almost anywhere on the court. Players that traditionally like a crisper or firm feeling will not get it with this string. Right off the stringing machine, it feels pretty soft and a little more bouncy than any other polyester I’ve tested before.

Durability
Durability and tension maintenance were better than expected. I was able to get about 10 hours of heavy hitting in before I started to notice any reduction in tension. Since the string is soft to begin with, I didn’t get much notching between the mains and crosses. After about 20 hours of playing with the string it was time to cut it out and start over. The string didn’t break when I was hitting, but it did eventually become mushy and lost a lot of its control.

Overall
Dunlop Srixon has done an incredible job with this string and it definitely will compete with the co-polyester market. With ample amounts of feel, power, spin and control, players cannot go wrong with this string in their racquet. Although it’s a little pricey, players of all levels can enjoy this softer feeling polyester string and it won’t require restringing too often.

About the Reviewer: Chris Virk-Brown currently works at Tennis Express on the Content Marketing team. He previously played at Neumann University and coached at the collegiate level for 3 years. He is an active USTA League and Tournament player.