Bancroft-forest-hills

Bancroft

Bancroft Forest Hills (1972)

Condition
7
10: New
9: Mint
8: Excellent
7: Good
6: Fair
5: Average
4: Below Average
3: Poor
| Rarity
9
10: Impossibly rare
9: Extremely rare
8: Hard to find
7: Fairly rare
6: Uncommon
5: Common
<4: Big Seller
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About This Racket

Forest Hills Stadium is an iconic horseshoe-shaped stadium built in 1923. Forest Hills is the home of New York West Side Tennis Club and originally grass. Since 1915 the club hosted the US Lawn Tennis Association National Championship, which was later renamed the U.S. Open. By 1923, the success of the event necessitated the construction of a 14,000-seat horseshoe-shaped stadium. In 1971, the stadium hosted annual Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Tennis Tournament which was a celebrity pro-am for charity. In 1975, the tournament was switched to Har-Tru clay courts. Forest Hills hosted the US grand slam event 60 times – from 1915-20, and then again from 1924 to 1977. It also staged the Davis Cup final 10 times, more than any other venue worldwide. The courts were originally all grass until 1974 when, in line with the global trend, there was a switch to clay. By 1978, the tournament had outgrown West Side, and the USTA moved the tournament to the new USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. This cute racket features an icon outline of the stadium and is a really nicely beautiful racket with a laminated white coating and red highlights.

Historic Gallery

Forest Hills Stadium

Specifications
MeasurementsValuePerformanceScore
Weight360gPower19/100
Head Size & Length65sq in | 27inchControl41/100
Balance5pt head heavySpin40/100
GripPerforated leatherHandling78/100
Strings18 x 20 | syntheticComfort89/100
FlexibilityRA 43Consistency59/100
About Bancroft

Bancroft was a very traditional wooden racket company from USA. It was extremely successful in the 60s and 70s and produced some amazing rackets and nice innovations including the use of Bamboo. However it failed to expand outside of USA and failed to adapt to new materials and technologies of the 80s 90s.

Gallery
Bancroft-forest-hills
Bancroft by Time
YearEvent
1882Founded by Frederick J. Bancroft in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
1906Bancroft is manufacturing over 35,000 rackets a year
1912Bancroft offers its first racket under its own name (“The Bancroft”)
1915Bancroft patents the 3-ply laminated racket
1920sBill Tilden, world’s top player, uses Bancroft
1941Bancroft introduces the “Streamliner” model
1940sThe Bancroft brothers sell the company
1950sBancroft introduces its first aluminium tennis racket
1960sBancroft begins using fiberglass in their rackets
1970sBancroft introduces the iconic “Big Stick” racket
1976-79Billie Jean King uses a custom Bancroft
1978Bancroft introduces the Scorpion, their first graphite racket
1980sBancroft is acquired by Spalding
1990sBancroft ceases operations