Making a Racquet: Former ATP pro, racquet innovator Nathan Price to enter Hall of Fame

Roger Federer was in a bit of a career funk, at least by his standards, when he started working with Nathan Price to redesign his tennis racquet. Price, in his role with Wilson Sporting Goods, worked hand-in-hand with Federer to reimagine how his racquet played and looked, ensuring it was better suited to handle the demands of the modern game.

Together, Price and Federer developed the Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph racquet, which Federer used to win the final three Grand Slam titles of his storied career. Price and Federer co-starred in Wilson’s TV commercials promoting the racquet—and hit some tennis balls together on court that day—which Price called his “greatest day on the job” and a “career highlight.”

“I got to work with many amazing players like Serena Williams, Juan Martin del Potro, Grigor Dimitrov, Kei Nishikori, Simona Halep and Madison Keys,” Price said. “It was truly a privilege and an honor to get to work with Roger. … And one of my proudest achievements was raising over $600,000 for the Roger Federer Foundation through the creation of a commemorative set of racquets.”

Price—a tennis lifer who played professionally on the ATP Tour before making a racquet in the tennis industry at both Wilson and Prince Sports—is set to be inducted into the USTA Missouri Valley Hall of Fame. Along with Sam Fotopoulos and David Steinmeyer, Price will be enshrined on Dec. 6 at the Olathe Conference Center in Kansas as part of the USTA Missouri Valley’s Annual Conference on Dec. 4-6.

“To have a lifetime of work be recognized for something I’m so passionate about—and given much of my time, energy and literally blood, sweat and tears—is so meaningful to me,” Price said. “When I was told the news, I got goose bumps and had a huge smile on my face. I was so proud to share it with my wife, two kids and my parents.”

Early Competitive Fire

Price comes from a tennis family. His parents, Cliff and Sherry, owned Tulsa-based tennis specialty store Totally Tennis for 46 years. Cliff was a 1999 inductee into the USTA Missouri Valley Hall of Fame as a standout player and coached his son and daughter, McKenzie, in tennis.

When Price was just 18 months old, his dad would take him to the back porch, place a racquet in his hands and gently lob tennis balls into the strings. Price quickly developed an affinity for the sport and played in his first tournament at the age of 7.

By the time he was 12, Price was a top-four player in the region and traveled to Florida to compete in the National Challenge Cup against the country’s top players. That was despite having a two-handed forehand at the time.

“He was very competitive in anything he did,” Cliff said. “He wanted to play tennis. We would play sets, and I would cover a lot of court, but he would play. He wanted to win every point, and he wanted to win a set. He had this strong work ethic and drive to continue to work at it until he really became a very good player early.”

Price was the No. 1-ranked junior in both USTA Oklahoma and USTA Missouri Valley—as well as top 50 nationally—in Boys 18s in 1998. He captured the 2000 Oklahoma 5A high school state singles championship and later earned induction into the Union High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Price attended the University of Arkansas. He played No. 1 singles and doubles and led the Razorbacks to the 2004 Sweet 16 for the first time since 1986. He was recognized as Arkansas’ top academic male athlete, won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association award for outstanding senior player and was an All-SEC selection.