Head MicroGEL Radical Racquet $114.23 ... Prince o3 white Maria Sharapova tennis Racquet. Market_price:$142.61 Your Price: $118.85.
Maria Sharapova is one of tennis’ most famous faces, but it’s the changing face of her racquet that’s recently been drawing attention.
The 23-year-old Russian and racquet manufacturer Prince announced last week that they have parted company, ending a 10-year relationship. Prince retains the right to sell a Sharapova signature line through 2011, but she will start the season with a new stick.
The announcement raises a major question: What racquet will Sharapova play with when the year’s first major, the Australian Open, begins on January 17?
Racquet customizers, stringers and devoted gear-heads speculate Sharapova has played with a blacked-out Head Radical frame for several months, making Head the likely suitor. Like diamond-cutters scrutinizing a stone for clarity, racquet techs point to photos of the all-black frame Sharapova used as proof she was not playing tournaments with a Prince, whose EXO3 technology is distinctive by the large ports on the side of the frame.
Sharapova’s representatives say there is no deal in place.
Max Eisenbud, Sharapova’s agent at IMG, told TENNIS.com he has “no comment” on the racquet his client will use in 2011. Head execs were similarly tight-lipped on the topic.
That shared silence—and the sight of the blacked-out frame Sharapova used for the final six months of the season—speaks volumes. Sharapova also shot promotional photos for the Australian Open with the same stencil-less frame, played with it in an exhibition against Vera Zvonareva earlier this month in Monterrey, Mexico, and wields it in this commercial for Google Search by Voice:
