Dunlop Srixon CX 200 Tour 16 x 19 Racket Review

I definitely found this 16 x 19 to be an improvement on the 18 x 20 from early on in this playtest.

It’s just got a little bit more to it than the 18 x 20.

I felt like I could generate all this racket head speed when I was playing with the 18 x 20, but it didn’t really turn it into power and spin.

With the 16 x 19, though, the extra spacing between the strings gave the racket some additional spin and power that I think most people will enjoy.

I still think the balance of this racket isn’t quite right though. It leans so much towards speed with the headlight balance that you feel Dunlop forgot you’ve actually got to hit the ball on the swing.

The 317 swingweight just isn’t enough to make the most of an advanced player’s strokes, and I would certainly be adding weight in the head of this racket if I was to buy it.

I don’t think you’re going to lose any of the control and feel this racket gives you by adding weight, but you will get some more plow through, resulting in power and spin.

On the backhand side, I certainly found I got better performance than with the 18 x 20.

The extra pop resulted in much better depth and my opponents weren’t able to attack my backhand as much as they could when I was playing with the 18 x 20.

The fast nature of this racket meant I was getting my hands through the shot nicely and I was able to hit with pretty good spin and power.

When I decided to throw the slice in, I had good control as well, which meant I was able to keep the ball low over the net and get it moving off the court.

The forehand was where I just didn’t gel with this racket. I do like a manoeuvrable racket, but particularly on the forehand side, there was something missing

There’s not the plow through to convert the energy you build up through your swings into true power and spin.

To compare my preferred swingweight, I use the Babolat Pure Strike 18 x 20, which is quite a light racket at 305g unstrung, but it’s swingweight is much higher than the CX 200 at 325.

The result is I swing at the same speed with the two rackets, but the Pure Strike seems to extract more in every department because it’s got more stability and plow through on contact with the ball.

I’d like to give the CX 200 16 x 19 a go with some extra weight added to the head because I do think it has some great qualities, but with its normal specs, the swingweight is a bit of a disappointment for me.

I gave the Dunlop Srixon CX 200 Tour 16 x 19 a 7.5 out of 10 on the groundstrokes.

I’ll just point out that I might have been a bit kind on the 18 x 20 with the 8 I gave it.

I think as a racket that you can customize; it does deserve and 8, but with the original specs, they’re probably both 7.5s.

This was my favorite part of the playtest and I found the CX 200 Tour to be very good on the volleys.

I don’t want to keep boring you with swingweight, but I do find that more swingweight makes for a much better volleying performance.

However, that didn’t stop the CX 200.

I did like the feel of the 18 x 20 a little bit better at the net because that stick is all about control, but the 16 x 19 made life a little bit easier when you had an easy put-away.

On overheads and easy volleys, I found it much easier to inject pace into the ball and ensure my opponent wasn’t getting it back.

The 95 sq. inch head ensures good feel and control when you get your timing right, and the balance makes getting into position a doddle.

There’s nothing worse than turning up at the net with a stick that you struggle to move into position.

Rest assured, the CX 200 is anything but that.

I’m going to keep saying it, but I would put some extra weight in the head of the racket just to increase the swingweight for a little bit more stability.

When the ball is coming at you with a ton of power and you’ve got to play a really difficult volley, you just want a little bit more stability.

There’s plenty of space to customize this racket though and a few pieces of lead tape at strategic points in the head of this racket might make a massive difference.

As I said, it didn’t work for me in its factory form, but I can see potential in it.

The Dunlop Srixon CX 200 Tour 16 x 19 does some of its best work at the net, and anyone that loves to spend time at the net should think about this stick (and adding some weight to the head.)

I gave it an 8 out of 10 for volleys.

The serve was one area where I particularly felt the lack of power in the 18 x 20 CX 200, so it was nice to have the extra bit of pop from the 16 x 19.

It’s still not a particularly powerful racket but it does make it a bit more accessible for the average player.

I actually got quite a bit out of the CX 200 Tour 16 x 19 on the serve and enjoyed its blend of speed, spin, power, and control.

More than any other shot, this is where I look for a racket that has great manoeuvrability and the Dunlop gives you that.

Whether I was hitting a first or second serve, I was hitting with an excellent first serve percentage, and my serve speeds weren’t bad.

I’d say it’s a racket that is going to work well for a big serving advanced player because it’s got the control to be able to keep big swings hitting the service boxes consistently.

I don’t know if it’s just because Kevin Anderson reps the 18 x 20 version of this racket, but I do see it working for that style of player – a big hitter who is very comfortable at the net.

I would have thought Anderson plays with specs that are a million miles away from what you get with the factory specifications, but the general style of play still works with this stick.

I gave the Dunlop Srixon CX 200 Tour 16 x 19 a 7.5 out of 10 on the serve.

A little higher than the 18 x 20 version.

The Dunlop Srixon CX 200 Tour 16 x 19 has a lot of qualities that I like.

I just think its lack of swingweight masks those qualities a bit.

The 16 x 19 version certainly has a bit more pop than the 18 x 20, but I still think it could benefit from a bit more weight in the head.

On the groundstrokes, this racket is really fast through the swing and you get nice feel and control from the 95 sq. inch head, but a lack of plow through means you lose a bit of the power and spin potential that you build up through the swing.

One area where I particularly enjoy the Srixon CX 200 Tour rackets is at the net, where they combine speed and control beautifully.

Again though, I think a little extra swingweight wouldn’t go amiss and I’d guess there are plenty of people who would look to customize this stick.

On the serves, the CX 200 Tour showed its normal speed and control, but I felt it was a little bit down on power.

Obviously, this isn’t the be all and end all, but it is nice to have access to some good power on the serve.

Sadly, the CX 200 Tour doesn’t really give you that in its stock form.

This racket seriously needs some customization in order to be effective; the good news being, there is plenty of room for it.

I think it could be an excellent racket with a little bit more swingweight and there are plenty of people that would enjoy playing with it.

Overall, I gave the Dunlop Srixon CX 200 Tour 16 x 19 a 7.5 out of ten.

It has some great characteristics but there is space for improvement.