Before the 2019 Brisbane international finals between Kei Nishikori and Daniil Medvedev, let’s take a look at what makes Kei Nishikori one of the best ball strikers and shot makers on the ATP tour, despite his “S” size.

It’s his racket high ceiling!

He used many different paint jobs during his career with the latest being the Wilson Ultra 95, but he actually uses:

Actual racket: Wilson NCode Tour 95

Speciality: extended racket – 70,4 cm (27,7 in) and low string tension ≈ 17 kg Luxilon Element (Cross) + Gut (Main)

mass: 346 g

balance: 33,5 cm

swingweight: 347

polarization: 0.44

MGR/I: 20.88

String Patter: 16/20

What makes his racket ceiling high is the extended lenght, high swingweight and a low tension. Combined with a relatively high MGR/I value for better predictabiity and ease of use.

Learn more about how to build a high ceiling by exploring the Impacting Tennis web page.