PRICE: $189
BALANCE: Even
HEAD SIZE: 107 sq. in.
FLEXIBILITY: Stiff
LENGTH: 27 in.
IDEAL SWING: Long
WEIGHT: 9.9 oz.
NTRP: 3.5–5.0

FIRST TAKE:
Bancroft has a rich tradition in the game, supplying racquets to players such as Bill Tilden, in the 1920s, and Bjorn Borg, in the 1970s. The company stopped producing frames in the 1980s but the brand is back with the Classic 280. It’s ideal for veteran players who have control and variety but need some assistance in the power department.

COMPARE TO:
None

HOW IT TESTED:
The Classic 280 is a basic graphite racquet without any hightech bells and whistles. But in this case, less is more. Light and evenly balanced, it performed well at the baseline, where players noticed a few extra m.p.h.’s on their ground strokes. They said the ball jumped off the strings, which caused more winners and a few more errors. Finding your range will probably require you to put extra topspin on the ball. On serves, players could generate more pace, but the racquet had too much pop and lacked the requisite control at net to make it a bona fide serve-and-volley weapon. Overall, the frame, which is available in five colors, should appeal to older tournament players. These folks have long swings that are, alas, slowing down, and if they can accept a few more unforced errors, the extra depth they’ll gain on groundies should rejuvenate their games.

BOTTOM LINE:
The control could be better, but the power is welcome at the baseline.