Definitive 98in² Racquet Tier List 2026 (and 99, 97, 95)
How to Change the Data:
Open the master spreadsheet.
File → Make a Copy
Now you’ve got your own spreadsheet when you can update all the scores as you wish.
Methodology
It is extremely challenging to effectively rate 67 strings tested over a period of 2+ years. The main challenges are:
Accounting for different racquets used.
Accounting for how your game changes over time.
Attempting to remember nuances in playability that may have been forgotten over time.
Dealing with varying testing conditions, like weather, altitude and opponent.
To overcome these challenges, I felt it best to simplify the rating system using scores out of 3 rather than out of 10. Scores with a base 10 require better consistency and nuance. Using our subjective experience, can we truly precisely, and consistently, judge a string’s spin, differentiating a 6/10 spin string from a 7/10 spin string? Due to the inherent and incredible adaptability of the human body, I think that it’s unlikely ANYONE could do so with any level of repeatability.
To simply the scoring system for the puny human psyche, I have elected to rate most things out of 3, as I think we can generally distinguish performance as “above average,” “around average,” and “below average.”
Ratings
Strings are rated out of 18, with a minimum possible score of 6 and a maximum possible score of 18. The overall score out of 18 is the sum of the following categories:
Consistency. Scored from 1-3.
Forgiveness. Scored from 1-3.
Penetration. Scored from 1-3.
Speed. Scored from 1-3.
Feel. Scored from 1-3.
Competition. Scored from 1-3.
Overall scores were then tallied and assigned a tier, assuming that the Tier List should follow a normal distribution, with most strings being either average (C-Tier) or good (B-Tier).
S-Tier: 18/18.
A-Tier: 16-17.
B-Tier: 14-15.
C-Tier: 12-13.
D-Tier: 11.
F-Tier: 10 or Less.
