Wilson lists the tension-loss figure for natural gut at under 5 percent over the life of a string bed — and that single number is the quiet argument at the heart of Champion's Choice, the hybrid string setup that pairs Wilson Natural Gut in the mains with Luxilon ALU Power Rough in the crosses. It is the setup famously associated with Roger Federer, it costs roughly two to three times what a full bed of copoly does, and the question that brings most intermediate-to-advanced players to this page is whether that premium buys real, felt performance or just borrowed prestige. We read the published specs, the manufacturer's numbers, and the consensus among independent testers and long-term owners to answer it plainly.
The verdict in one sentence
Champion's Choice earns its price for players who want gut-level comfort and power without giving up polyester's control and spin — but the durability and playability window are genuinely short, so it rewards frequent restringers and punishes anyone hoping to set it and forget it.
How we evaluated
We did not string a racquet or hit with it. This is a synthesis. Our authority here comes from reading the evidence carefully and attributing it, not from pretending to have run a lab.
Specifically, we weighed:
- Manufacturer specs for both components — Wilson's published gauge and construction for its Natural Gut (16/1.30mm and 17/1.25mm) and Luxilon's data on ALU Power Rough (a co-polyester monofilament, textured for bite).
- Independent tester reviews from established string-review desks (Tennis Warehouse's playtest team and Tennis Warehouse Europe, along with the broader reviewer consensus) that rate strings on repeatable criteria like power, control, comfort, spin, and durability.
- Owner feedback across retail reviews and forums, which is where the durability story gets honest — testers play a string for a session or two; owners live with it until it dies.
Where those three disagree, we say so. Where a figure is manufacturer-stated rather than independently verified, we flag it. Natural gut, in particular, has decades of independent tension-retention data behind it, so the comfort-and-power side of this hybrid rests on firmer ground than the durability side, which is mostly owner-reported and hard to standardize.
The number, and what it actually measured
Start with the tension-loss figure. Natural gut is repeatedly cited — by Wilson and in independent string comparisons — as losing the least tension of any string material, often quoted at under 5 percent where a typical polyester can shed 10 percent or more in the same window, much of it in the first 24 to 48 hours. Babolat and other gut makers publish similar claims for their own gut, and the ranking holds consistently across independent tension-retention roundups even when the exact percentages move.
Here is what that number actually measures: how much of the reference tension a string bed still holds after being strung and left, or lightly hit. It is a proxy for one specific thing — how long the bed feels like it did on day one. Gut's low tension loss is why players describe it as holding its pocket, its power, and its comfort far longer than a fresh copoly, which turns dead and boardy within days as tension craters.
In a hybrid, the gut is doing that job in the main strings — the ones that move most, snap back most, and carry most of the ball's energy. Luxilon ALU Power Rough sits in the crosses, contributing the control and the textured bite that gut alone cannot supply. The consensus reasoning among reviewers is mechanistic and consistent: the gut mains keep the bed lively and arm-friendly; the poly crosses restrain the gut's natural trampoline and add spin. That division of labor is the whole design.
What the number does not measure
Tension retention says nothing about abrasion. And abrasion is exactly where Champion's Choice gets its worst marks.
Natural gut is a fibrous, relatively soft material. Textured polyester like ALU Power Rough is comparatively hard and, by design, rough. Every time the mains snap back across those crosses, the gut is being sawed against an abrasive surface. The widely reported result — echoed by testers and owners alike — is that the gut mains notch and fray noticeably faster in this pairing than gut would against a smoother cross, and the string bed's spin and control fall off before the strings actually break.
There is a second, more expensive problem that the tension-loss figure also hides. In a gut-main/poly-cross hybrid, the polyester dies first as a playability matter — it loses its resilience and goes dull — even while the gut is still physically intact. The practical consequence, reported repeatedly by owners, is a full restring when only half the bed is spent. You do not get to salvage the pricier gut. The 5 percent number is real, but it describes a string that may need replacing for reasons that have nothing to do with tension.
Champion's Choice vs. its two obvious alternatives
To judge whether the hybrid premium is justified, it helps to line it up against what most players in this bracket actually consider instead: a full bed of gut, and a full bed of premium copoly.
| Criterion | Champion's Choice (gut main / ALU Rough cross) | Full natural gut | Full premium copoly (e.g. ALU Power) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comfort / arm | High — gut mains carry it | Highest | Lowest of the three; stiff |
| Power | High | Highest | Moderate to low |
| Control | Good — poly crosses rein in the gut | Lower; can feel wild | Highest |
| Spin | Good — textured cross bites | Modest | High |
| Durability window | Short; owners report early notching | Longer than the hybrid | Longest of the three by breakage, but tension dies fast |
| Cost per restring | Highest | Very high | Lowest |
The comparison clarifies the trade. Full gut is more comfortable and more powerful but harder to control and just as expensive to replace. Full copoly is far cheaper and the most controlled, but it is the harshest on the arm and its tension collapses quickly. Champion's Choice sits in the middle and, per the reviewer consensus, hits a genuinely useful blend — the reason it retains a strong reputation despite the cost. What it does not do is escape the fundamental tension: the qualities that make it feel good are the qualities that make it wear out.
A note on tension and setup
One practical piece of guidance the reviewer consensus supports, offered without a fabricated test behind it: many players string the gut mains a couple of pounds higher than the poly crosses, or simply string the whole bed toward the lower end of the racquet's range to preserve comfort and let the gut breathe. Because the poly is the component that loses playable life first, stringing it too tight tends to accelerate the dead, muted feel that ends the bed's useful window. If you are coming from a full copoly setup, expect more power and a livelier response, and consider dropping a pound or two from your usual reference tension to keep control in hand.
Treat these as starting points drawn from common practice, not prescriptions — your frame, swing, and reference tension all move the target.
Who this is for, and who it isn't
It's for you if you already own a control-oriented frame, you value arm comfort as much as spin and control, you restring often enough that a short playability window is a scheduling detail rather than a budget crisis, and you have felt a fresh copoly go dead and disliked it. Players managing early arm soreness who refuse to give up competitive spin are the clearest fit.
It isn't for you if you break strings quickly, play multiple times a week on a tight budget, or want a set-and-forget bed that holds up for a month. For heavy hitters and frequent breakers, the cost per playable hour is hard to defend — a durable full copoly or a cheaper synthetic-gut hybrid will serve better. And if you rarely restring, the gut's comfort will be undercut by the poly going dull long before you replace it.
Evidence grade
For the central comfort-and-power claim — that gut mains keep this bed livelier and easier on the arm than a full copoly — the evidence is Strong: decades of independent tension-retention data support gut's advantage, and the tester and owner consensus is consistent.
For the durability picture, the evidence is Moderate: the early-notching and full-restring findings are widely and consistently reported by owners and testers, but they rest on owner reports rather than standardized abrasion testing, and real-world wear varies too much to pin to a number.
Champion's Choice is not overrated. It is over-bought — by players who never restring it often enough to feel what they paid for.