A PRIVATE EDITORIAL PROJECT
Tennis history, for those who collect with judgment.
The definitive archive of collectible tennis rackets.
Court Privée documents the rackets that shaped the sport — not as merchandise, but as objects of craft, history, and quiet obsession.
27
Rackets Catalogued
4
Decades Documented
1960–99
Years Covered
Original
Photography & Research
THREE WAYS IN
Rackets · Reference · Collection
A private editorial work on the history and collecting practice around significant rackets.
A curated selection of historically significant rackets — chosen, not accumulated.
OBJECT OF THE MONTH
1990S — THE PROFESSIONAL ERA
Wilson Pro Staff 6.0 85
The definitive serve-and-volley frame of its decade. Braided graphite and Kevlar, an 85 sq. in. head, and a career: fourteen Grand Slam titles under Pete Sampras.
MATERIAL
Braided Graphite
ERA
1983 – 1990s
ASSOCIATED
Pete Sampras
FOUR DECADES, ONE STANDARD
The Collection by Era
’60s
The Wooden Masters — craftsmanship before engineering.
VIEW →
’70s
The Transition — from wood to steel and beyond.
VIEW →
’80s
The Graphite Revolution — power redefines the sport.
VIEW →
’90s
The Professional Era — legends and their frames.
VIEW →
THE COURT PRIVÉE BALL
Pure white. No compromise.
Before 1972, tennis was played in white. Court Privée returns to that origin — a ball made with the same restraint and quality as the rackets we document, not the fluorescent disposability of the modern game.
NATURAL GUT
The string the pros never stopped using.
Natural gut has strung tennis rackets since 1875, and top players still choose it today. Court Privée is bringing it back — to restring a wood racket the way it was made, or to play a modern frame the way the best in the world still do.
WHY COURT PRIVÉE
Not a shop. Not a marketplace. An editorial project.
Court Privée exists to document, preserve, and interpret tennis rackets as cultural artifacts — with judgment, restraint, and a long-term perspective on what deserves to be remembered.
Collect less. Collect better. Preserve history.
THE COURT PRIVÉE REFERENCE
Rackets of Legend
A structured editorial work on the history and collecting practice around significant tennis rackets.