Babolat Xalt MSV Focus Hex Hybrid – Tennis String Review by Zoe Alexander

Tennis String Review – Zoe Alexander looked into the Babolat Xalt MSV Focus Hex hybrid combination of tennis strings in a Head MP Lite 280gm 27 inch racket.

Tennis String Review – Hybrid Combination of Babolat Xalt with MSV Focus Hex

How many of you tennis parents are going nuts at the moment because your son or daughter on their journey to tennis stardom keeps breaking strings and they are barely 14 years old? Join our club! Last year I researched and wrote a post about string choices for junior tennis players on 12 February 2023. There we addressed a selection of strings based on what we had found from third parties. So what were we recommended to use for the teenage player?

• Tecnifibre NRG2
• Head Velocity MLT
• Babolat Xcel
• Yonex Rexis
• Tecnifibre X-One Biphase

Now I shall be truly honest with you, at the time I didn’t know anything about strings and like many parents went on what the mass market was using. I had asked around and Tecnifibre, Babolat and Yonex were getting good feedback in the junior tennis arena so it seemed appropriate to follow the advice.

How did we end up with a polyester MSV Focus string going against my own recommendations?

All advice pointed us well away from the dreaded polyester arm destroyer so imagine my surprise when following 12 months of tennis elbow for me, a fellow tennis parent introduced me to MSV Focus Soft 120, a polyester tennis string! He had cured his tennis elbow and had also converted his teenage son (13 years old) away from the normal Tecnifibre multifilament to the new soft polyester by MSV with no adverse effects. So in the summer of 2023 Zoe and I shifted to MSV Focus Hex 127/16 hexagonal profile polyester string.

My tennis elbow disappeared in 2 weeks and Zoe has enjoyed a run of 18 months with this string, breaking strings on average once every 4-6 weeks, playing 3-4 hours daily 4-5 days per week with a tournament monthly. In 2024 we changed Zoe from the Wilson Burn tennis racket to the Head MP Lite, sticking with the MSV Focus Hex 127/16 string. She went from strength to strength and despite her shorter stature, she generates plenty of power and spin.

It must be noted that the hexagonal profile is designed for the player who uses lots of spin rather than fast, flat shots, perfect for Zoe and Alex who are lefties with topspin. 

Hybrid Combination of Polyester and Multifilament String

Recently, following our purchase of the Pro-Stringer PS-3 Platinum Tennis Racket Stringer, a versatile, mobile, light weight system that can be easily carried and used on tour for personal racket stringing, we were introduced to the Babolat Xalt 130/16 multifilament string in white. Knowing that Zoe had settled with the MSV Focus Hex 127/16 monofilament polyester string we didn’t want to fully move away from the hexagonal profile string so we decided a new trial using the combination of the Monofilament and the Multifilament.

Test 1

The test was set up with the following criteria:-

• RACKET – HEAD MP LITE – 280gm
• STRING TYPE – vertical BABOLAT XALT 130/16 at 54lbs tension, horizontal MSV HEX 127/16 at 54lbs tension

Test 2

The test was set up with the following criteria:-

• RACKET – HEAD MP LITE – 280gm
• STRING TYPE – vertical MSV HEX 127/16 at 54lbs tension, horizontal BABOLAT XALT 130/16 at 54lbs tension

Tennis String Review Results

We recorded the following results from Tests 1 and 2:-

Test 1 – the racket was used for high performance training and after four hours of use, the white Babolat Xalt vertical strings broke in the centre of the racket.

Test 2 – the racket was used for high performance training and competition hours totalling twenty two hours, then the Babolat Xalt horizontal strings broke again in the centre of the racket.

Tennis String Review Conclusion

For a left handed female player of age fourteen who uses predominantly top spin during her play the Test 2 combination of MSV Hex as vertical strings with Babolat Xalt as horizontal strings was a more effective combination not only during play, but in longevity. Zoe commented that the second set up was more favourable and responsive in play.

However, she commented that her preference still remains as MSV Hex both in vertical and horizontal strings. It must be noted that this is the only polyester monofilament string we have found suitable for a teenage player not yet fully grown. We acknowledge that in our previous post we strongly advised against the polyester monofilament option for teenage players not fully at adulthood and with the exception of this MSV string we still advise to remain with multifilament as long as economically feasible.

Zoe has now returned to using MSV Hex for all three Head MP Lite rackets and we will monitor how they perform in play with respect to any discomfort in her playing arm and longevity of string in training and competitions. Keep and eye out for our next tennis string review.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Steve on WhatsApp +44 7849 502790 or email at info@zoealexanderuk.com

Don’t forget to visit our online shop and browse through our kids tennis clothes range from Zoe Alexander Tennis, choose from an extensive collection of boys and girls tennis clothes for junior tennis players age 4 to 14.