A tennis racquet includes a hollow tubular frame defining a head portion, a throat, and a shaft portion supporting a handle. The frame has a height, in a direction perpendicular to the stringing plane, that increases uniformly from the bottomn of the throat to the tip of the head portion, so as to increase in stiffness further away from the handle. Such arrangement, in which the frame is most flexible at the top of the handle, reduces the angle of deflection of the stringing plane upon impact and absorbs shock.