Astrox 77
Model AX-77 · Akane Yamaguchi, An Se-young
Price history
Not enough dated pre-owned sales yet for a price chart — our threshold is 3. 12 verified sales on record so far.
12 verified transactions on record · USD · methodology
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Astrox 77: the first Astrox, and the racquet that took Yamaguchi to world No. 1
Where the Astrox line starts
The Astrox line began with this racquet. Yonex announced the Astrox 77 on August 7, 2017 as the first racquet in the world to use Namd, Nitta’s carbon-nanotube treatment for carbon fiber, and released it worldwide in mid-September. It is often described as the mid-range sibling of the flagship 88 and 99, but it came before both: the Astrox 66 and the 88 S and 88 D arrived in early 2018 and the 99 that September. For its first months the 77 was the only Astrox, and Yonex put it in the hands of its top players. Akane Yamaguchi took it up at the August 2017 World Championships. When she became the first Japanese singles player, man or woman, to reach world No. 1, in the ranking of April 19, 2018, she called it her biggest weapon.
Namd in the shaft
Instead of mixing nanotubes into the resin, Namd attaches them directly to the carbon fiber, which Yonex says greatly improves the bond between fiber and resin. Ordinary carbon stiffens as swing speed rises; Yonex says Namd resists that, so the shaft bends deeply as the swing builds and snaps back stiffly at impact. On the 77 it is in the shaft only, with high-modulus graphite, Nanometric and tungsten in the frame; Namd reached the frame with the 99. The 77 also introduced the Rotational Generator System, which puts weight at the frame top, the joint and the grip end so the follow-through keeps its speed and the player is ready for the next shot sooner. Yonex’s swing-robot test credited it with 7.1% more smash power and a smash angle 2.3° steeper, without naming the comparison racquet. Yonex rates it medium flex, its Japanese gauge puts the balance on the head-heavy side, and the frame is 10 mm longer than standard.
Gideon, Intanon and An Se-young
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon used the 77 from the 2017 World Championships while his partner, Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, stayed on the ArcSaber 11. After their Japan Open title that September, days after the release, Gideon told Yonex, “Since I began to use this racquet my power and speed have increased.” Yonex lists him on it for the pair’s China Open, Superseries Finals and early-2018 titles, until he moved to the Astrox 88 D at the March 2018 All England. Ratchanok Intanon won the New Zealand Open with it before it reached shops, beat Yamaguchi 14–21, 21–15, 21–19 in the 2017 Denmark Open final and won the 2018 Malaysia Masters. An Se-young carried the 77 furthest. At 17 she beat Carolina Marín 16–21, 21–18, 21–5 for the 2019 French Open, and in late 2021 she won the Indonesia Open and the World Tour Finals with it.
Three colors, one code
The 77 launched in Shine Yellow and Metallic Blue, in 4U and 3U, made in Japan. In November 2020 Yonex added Shine Red under the same AX77 code and said An Se-young would start her 2021 season with the 77. In October 2022 a new Astrox 77, in Pro, Tour and Play versions, replaced it. The new generation keeps Namd in the shaft but adds a Flex Fuse joint, and Yonex pitched it as a softer racquet whose power was “effortless and accessible to all”, with 2.9% more smash power than the original. The Astrox 77 Pro, 77 Tour and 77 Play each have their own page.
Five years on sale
The verified sales in the price panel above are pre-owned first-generation 77s from the Asian resale market; the 77 Pro is valued on its own page. The first generation was sold for about five years, from September 2017 until Yonex Japan’s Astrox list showed only the new 77 Pro in September 2022, and in three colors, so it is not a scarce racquet. Its Japanese launch price was ¥23,000 before tax. Most examples were bought to play, which makes condition the main thing separating one from another. What sets the model apart is its place at the start of the Astrox line and its record with Yamaguchi, Gideon, Intanon and An Se-young. That record belongs to the model: Yonex’s reports never name a colorway, so no finish can be tied to a particular title.
A documented fake
Counterfeit 77s were in circulation within months of the launch. In April 2018 a racquet shop published a fake Shine Yellow 77 that a customer had brought in for stringing; it had come with a fake cover, string and grip. Its hologram sticker was rectangular and peeled off easily, its butt cap was a different shade of green, and the “JAPAN” lettering was visibly cruder. The engraved serial numbers on its shaft and cap, though, had been copied closely enough that the shop could find no clear difference, so a plausible serial alone does not prove a frame genuine. Yonex itself says fakes are hard to tell from genuine racquets by appearance. The callout lists the checks.
The template for the range
The 77 set the pattern for the Astrox range. When Yonex announced the 88 S and 88 D in January 2018, it presented the Rotational Generator System as technology shared with the 77, which it said already had the trust of top professionals, and the 99 of September 2018 carried Namd from the shaft into the frame. Yamaguchi stayed with the 77 into 2019, winning her second Japan Open that July and returning to world No. 1. When Yonex rebuilt the 77 in 2022, it named An Se-young among the new racquet’s first players, and Yonex lists her on the Astrox 77 Pro for her 2023 world title and on its athlete pages through 2025. She is sometimes said to play the Nanoflare 1000 Z, but Yonex’s lists name the 77 Pro.
Yonex’s item code is AX77. The first generation came in Shine Yellow or Metallic Blue (2017) or Shine Red (November 2020), in 4U (average 83 g) or 3U (average 88 g) with G4 or G5 grips, and it should be marked Made in Japan. Yonex lists medium flex, a frame 10 mm longer than standard, and Namd in the shaft only, with Nanometric and tungsten in the frame. Yonex’s own test is the hologram sticker, which resists peeling on a genuine racquet and lifts easily with a fingernail on a fake. Compare the hologram, the butt-cap green and the “JAPAN” lettering with a known genuine Yonex, and do not treat a matching engraved serial as proof on its own. A 77 Pro, Tour or Play is the 2022 generation, not this racquet.
The 77 is a plentiful racquet with a significant place in Yonex’s history, so buy on condition. It was sold for five years and most examples were played, so ask for daylight photographs of the whole frame, the T-joint and the butt cap, and look for cracks and repainting. A Shine Red frame is the 2020 color, not a separate edition. Treat claims that a racquet was used by Yamaguchi, Gideon or An Se-young as unproven unless the seller can document them, since Yonex never named a colorway for any match.
Verified prices last updated Sep 2026. All data based on tracked secondary market transactions.