Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) Review

About the Brand

Yonex Co., Ltd. is a Japanese sports equipment manufacturing company. In 1946, Yonex was founded in a snow-covered village in Niigata, Japan, by Mr. Minoru Yoneyama, who was born in 1924 and died in 2019 in Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan.

Yonex produces equipment and apparel for tennis, badminton, golf, and running. Yonex manufactures and commercialises equipment for badminton, tennis (rackets, shuttlecocks, balls, bags), and golf (clubs, bags). Yonex also produces athletic shoes and a wide range of apparel that includes T-shirts, jackets, skirts, shorts, hoodies, leggings, and hats.

In 1957, Yoneyama began to make badminton rackets for other brands. By 1961, the first Yoneyama-branded racquet was introduced, and within another two years, an export company was created for worldwide distribution. After that, the company began to make aluminium badminton racquets.

In 1969, it was found that the same technology could be applied to the tennis racket, which the company introduced in 1971. The company began to experiment with graphite shafts for both types of rackets and found that these would also be useful for golf clubs.

In 1982 Yonex came out with the new Oversized Tennis Racquet in the REX-Series with the R-7 and R-10 racquets. At that time, Martina Navratilova played with the R-7 and was very successful.

One year later, the New Series Rexking was developed with the R-22. Navratilova subsequently used the White RQ 180 Widebody Frame until the early 1990s.

Yonex sponsors the All England Open Badminton Championships and is a partner of the Badminton World Federation, which organises the World Championships.

In 2021, Yonex will celebrate its 75th anniversary. Yonex Officially Sponsors some World’s Leading Tennis Players like Anna Kournikova, Ana Ivanovic, Angelique Kerber, Carolina Wozniacki, Daniela Hantuchova, David Nalbandian, Elena Dementivia, Lleyton Hewitt,  Nick Kyrgios, Stan Wawarinka, Martina Hingis, Martina Navratilova, Mary Pierce, Monica Seles and many more.

Description

The Yonex Ezone 98 2020 deep blue is the sixth generation Ezone racquet from Yonex. Yonex Ezone 98 2020 is one of the most user-friendly modern players’ racquets, used by Naick Kyrgios and Naomi Osaka. Yonex has re-invented the beam of the racquet for more stability and developed the hitting area slightly wider for a more balanced, forgiving response.

At net, the Yonex Ezone 98 2020 amazingly manages frequent volleys, and it also has excellent placement and touch for those who like moving their opponents from corner to corner.

On groundstrokes the Ezone 98 2020 feels Faster, Spin-friendly and Accurate. Hardcore servers will also find the precision needed to swing the racquet for power, and there is more than enough spin capability to hit the amazing kick serves and slices.

Yonex has made numerous changes to the overall feel of the racquet, and the updated Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) is a great option for intermediate and advanced players who want a light-weighted racquet with a great overall feel and outstanding all-court playability.

With its sub-320 RDC swing weight, this racquet isn’t as stable as a traditionally weighted player’s racquet, but the light weight and easy acceleration definitely come in handy when scrambling on safeguard or attempting to wrench a winner on the run.

Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) includes Liner Tech string technology from the previous version by using straight hole grommets to enlarge the strings, which will give more power and comfort, even when missing the sweet spot.

Yonex enhanced the comfort of the Ezone series by adding vibration-dampening mesh (VDM) in the handle. The material filters out unwanted vibrations without overly muting the response. Yonex adds a unique, strong, and elastic graphite called M40X to the throat. to improve frame stability and optimise the flex at impact.

 

 

 

 

 

Specifications

Head Size: 98 in² / 632.26 cm²

Length: 27in / 68.58cm

Strung Weight:11.3oz / 320g

Balance: 12.75in / 32.39cm / 6 pts HL

Beam Width: 23mm / 24mm / 19mm

Composition: M40X/ HM Graphite

Grip Type: Yonex Synthetic

Power Level: Low-Medium

Swingweight: 317

Stiffness: 64

Stroke Style: Medium-Full

Swing Speed: Medium-Fast

String Tension: 45-60 pounds

String Pattern: 16 Mains/19 Crosses

Technology

• ISOMETRIC
  
• M40X
  
• LINER TECH
  
• OVAL PRESSED SHAFT
  
• VIBRATION DAMPENING MESH

ISOMETRIC

7% LARGER SWEET SPOT
Developed over 30 years ago, the ISOMETRIC™ design increases the sweet spot by 7%*.
Compared to a conventional round frame, a square-shaped ISOMETRIC™ racquet generates a larger sweet spot by optimizing the intersection of the main and cross strings.
ISOMETRIC™ technology delivers gareater control without sacrificing power.

M40X

A high strength, high modulus graphite achieves the rare combination of frame stability and flex through its unique properties.
TORAYCA???? M40X is a next-generation carbon fiber developed by Toray Industries, Inc.

Liner Tech

For Improved Power And Comfort
Straight hole grommets elongate the strings to optimize power and comfort on off-center shots.

Oval Pressed Shaft

First introduced in 1969 with the T-7000 – our first aluminum tennis racquet – the Oval Pressed Shaft (OPS) is still incorporated into our most popular racquet series today.

The Oval Pressed Shaft is designed to give players more spin, control, and feel. The shaft flexes at impact, increasing dwell time and minimizing vibrations.

Vibration Dampening Mesh 

First used in our snowboards to reduce vibrations at impact, Vibration Dampening Mesh (VDM) is now used in four of our racquet series. VDM is a stretchy mesh material that is wrapped around the graphite within the grip to filter unwanted vibrations and improve touch and precision.

Overall Performance

Control

Compared to the older version, the new Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) has slightly better control, but you were expecting more control or more mass to help slow the racquet down a bit. To maximize the control, you adjusted your string of choice.

Feel

The Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) offers great touch and feel all around due to the isometric shape of the frame, which makes the racquet more forgiving in feel. You find maximum feel on groundstrokes, drop volleys, and at the net, and the racquet is stable enough to allow you to relax your hand on grip, giving you joy and feel. The Yonex Ezone 98 is a racquet that provides maximum comfort and feel.

Groundstrokes

On groundstrokes, the Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) is a fun and easy racquet to hit with, and it swings easily to achieve higher levels of racquet head speed and get great topspin.

You like the maneuverability of the racquet from the baseline and appreciate the big sweetspot on groundstrokes. Although the racquet is a little more powerful than controlled, it is not uncontrollable, and you would prefer to have a bit more control with power.

The Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) offers a very soft touch and feel, making it very comfortable to play with, and Yonex has improved the comfort levels compared to the previous version. Yonex differentiates this racquet by making it a bit heavier than the Ezone 100.

Maneuverability

The Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) met your expectations in terms of maneuverability, as it is highly maneuverable with a 6pts head-light balance when strung. The racquet’s head-light balance makes it easy to maneuver, allowing you to get your hands through the ball quickly and hit the ball forward. You appreciate the maneuverability of the racquet at the net and its quick response on the ball.

Power

The easy access to power makes the Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) a fun racquet to play with in both singles and doubles. It swings fast and provides plenty of power when needed, and you found ample power from the baseline with the Ezone 98.

Returns

Returning with the Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) was enjoyable, as it felt effortless, and offered excellent stability on returns despite its weight. The racquet’s maneuverability allowed you to get it into position on time consistently.

Additionally, the isometric shape of the frame made the racquet more forgiving in feel at the net, and the added stability helped with the stiffness of the racquet at times.

Serves

The Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) is a great option for players with a flat serve, as it swings fast and offers plenty of power when needed.

It also works nicely for second serves, providing good power, spin, and control, which gave me the confidence to keep the racket head speed up.

This racquet allowed me to easily access power on flatter first serves, and spin was also available for kick and slice serves.

Slices

It’s great to hear that you enjoy hitting slices with the Yonex Ezone 98 (2020)! It’s important to find the right balance between power and control with each shot, and it sounds like you’ve found a good strategy for your backhand slice. Keep practicing and experimenting to find the right approach for your game.

Stability

The Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) has the enough stability to hit against bigs hitters and big servers.

It has the stability to tame the ball into court. I have experience the estimable stability on returns. Some players may be find that lack of little bit stability.

I would suggest for improving the stability of the racquet you can do the weight customization as per your requirement.

TopSpin

Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) is very easy to generate spin. I was amazed by the amount of spin this racquet offers for a 16×19 string pattern. A good amount of spin was available for kicks and slice serves too. Maybe its not provided you the enough level of spin with traditional grip and but when you try out with modern grip then it will not displeased for spin.

Volleys

At net, The Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) moves quickly through the air and has enough stability to absorb power and give me the control I needed.

At net, Maneuverability of the Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) is outstanding. I liked the crisp and smooth feel of this racquet on volleys.
Maneuverability, combined with the larger sweetspot made this racquet very effective on volleys. This was an area where Ezone 98 2020 definitely overcome the older version Ezone 98.

Ezone 98 (2020) can easily handle the volley on the run from baseline because of its stability. Overall, the racquet is a rock n roll performer at the net.

Overall

Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) is a very well-balanced tennis racquet. Intermediates, advanced, and professional players will undoubtedly prefer this racquet. If you’re looking for maneuverability, spin, and feel, then this Ezone 98 2020 is for you.

It does a good job at the net for a 305-gram racket. Whether it’s for singles or doubles, you’ll find the Ezone to be a great option.

The Ezone 98 is best from the back of the court, and aggressive baseliners will enjoy this racquet. It has ample power on groundstrokes. You’ll find Ezone 98 has a larger sweet spot than the previous version.

Final opinion, Not many dislikes on this racquet, may be the more control, spin and stability of the racquet could have been better.

Likes

• Large Sweetspot
  
• Controllable Power
  
• Manueuverability
  
• Top Spin

Dislikes

• Dampened
  
• Bit Uncontrolled
  
• Stability

Who’s This Racquet For

However, the 2020 edition of the Ezone 98 (305 g) is going to be a suitable choice for intermediate and advanced players who are looking to supplement their racquet with generous power, maneuverability, and feel.

The Ezone 98 It’s a racquet that will adapt well to a wide range of player styles and works great for all-court play.

Finally, the Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) is a very well-balanced racquet that is a perfect example of maximum spin, a large sweet spot, great comfort, and ease of maneuverability.

Who’s This Racquet Not For

Probably, the Yonex Ezone 98 (2020) is the racquet which is usually upto the bench mark in all-court play test but people who are prefer of utmost hitting shots along with the control oriented game then this racquet should not be choice of the players.

Those who prefer heavy topspin groundstrokes and a stiffer head racquet then this Ezone 98 may be bit displeased for you.

Sometimes stability is dampened in this racquet, but if you like to customise your racquet by adding some weight, then this racquet can give you the desired stability you need.