Six years ago, if you had told me I’d be making YouTube videos and writing articles about my top 5 favourite rackets, I probably wouldn’t have believed it. For a racket nerd like myself, getting to try out all this gear is special, and I do want to thank each one of you for supporting us and making it possible.

A lot has changed in six years, not least of all my racket preferences. If I had made this list back then, it probably would have been exclusively thin-beamed, 18x20s with really good feel. Here is what I look for in a racket:

Good Feel: Feel was my holy grail back then. It’s still very much important, but now I’m okay with sacrificing a bit of feel if frames shine in other areas.

A Unique Factor: When you test this many frames, one of the things that’s quickly obvious is when a racket is clearly modelled after another; when it’s a sort of copycat frame. For example, we see a lot of “Pure Drive”-style rackets because it’s been so successful over the last 20 years. Every brand wants a piece of that pie. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I always appreciate playing with a racket that has some sort of unique factor.

The Yonex Ezone 100 is a power racket, similar to the Pure Drive, but it has unique elements like the thinner throat and the isometric head that make it different enough to the point I’m not just going to say, “go for the Pure Drive, it’s better.”

Novelty: Novelty is different from unique. Unique can be something that’s been around for a while; novelty is when I’m testing something, and I’ve never felt playability like that before. Whether it’s technology, design, or something else, I always appreciate novelty, at least when it’s beneficial to playability.

This is one area I’ve really developed as a reviewer because I used to scoff at new technology since it almost always intrudes on pure ball feel. But now I really appreciate it when it’s implemented well and with a purpose.

The Wilson Shift is a great example of a racket that brings something new to the table because it has such a unique flex, and that totally changes how the frame amplifies spin potential. It may not be for everyone, but objectively that’s new technology that works, and I’m still impressed every time I play with the Shift.

 

So, good feel, a unique factor, and experiencing something new — those are the three main characteristics that help make up this top 5. It doesn’t always have to be all three at once, but some combination of them.

 

 

5. Babolat Pure Drive

If you’ve followed our newsletter and especially our YouTube channel over the last couple of years, then you’re probably surprised to see the Pure Drive here. I haven’t talked about it much, partially because it sells itself, but also because I’ve always thought of it as slightly “basic.”

It’s by far the best-selling racket on the market; everyone likes it because they can grab it and instantly play well, but it doesn’t get much praise beyond that, and I think it should.

A few months ago, Babolat gifted me a 30th-anniversary Pure Drive, which I’ve been using a lot, and I quickly realized this is a phenomenal frame and much more well-rounded than I had ever given it credit for.

Feel and control are far from traditional, but a lot of people cast it aside for being the prototypical “Babolat” frame that’s uncomfortable, hollow, and overly powerful. That may have been the case in the past, but not anymore. It provides quite a crisp and connected feel for the ball, especially compared to some of the other powerful, user-friendly rackets nowadays. Rackets like the Clash, the Ultra, and even the Ezone 100 have a lot of intrusive technology that makes their sweet spots big and forgiving, but also quite ambiguous.

You feel some technology on the Pure Drive — that’s why it’s not as uncomfortable as it used to be — but there’s a clear difference in the feedback you get when you make good contact versus bad contact. That feedback, combined with its inherently solid feel, gives me confidence to swing as big as I would on something more control-oriented, while still benefiting from its great power. It’s not a control racket, but there’s a difference between a racket made specifically for control and a racket that gives you confidence, which makes you feel like you’re in control. And that’s how I feel with the Pure Drive.

I’ve also recently developed a major appreciation for that lighter, 300-gram weight. I tend to use rackets over 310 grams or customize frames like the Blade and the Aero 98 up to that spec, but the Pure Drive is very playable in stock form. That makes it easier to swing, which I didn’t fully appreciate until I gave this one a go, but it has helped speed up my stroke and improve my technique.

I can’t wait till the new one comes out in January; I’m sure Babolat will knock it out of the park as they always do.

 

4. Babolat Pure Aero 98

The Pure Aero 98 has quickly become a very popular racket; it’s actually the racket of choice for most of the stringers at the store. Phil started the trend, Abdullah followed, and then Koby played with Abdullah’s and thought, “wow, this is a pretty good racket,” and just recently switched.

Personally, I’m a big fan, and I’ve wanted to switch to it for a while, but I haven’t totally dialled it in. It may just be a racket that doesn’t work perfectly for me, which is also why it’s not higher up on the list, but it’s one of the most unique I’ve ever tested, and I have a huge appreciation for it despite not playing my best tennis with it.

The Aero 98 has a very round hoop that’s positioned high up the frame. That means the sweet spot itself is farther up, which benefits playability in two ways: it increases leverage over the ball when you make good contact, which produces more power and spin, and it also makes the racket more stable.

The one little drawback to mass so far up is that it does make the racket more punishing and harder to use. The point of contact is farther away from you, so you lose some control over it during your swing, and this is a major part of the reason I’ve struggled with it.

So it has a steeper learning curve, but once you do figure it out, it’s a racket that gives you tons of spin, plenty of power, but unlike other power and spin rackets, it’s a 98, so it’s precise. There are a few rackets like this — notably the Extreme Pro and Vcore 98 — but I find the Aero 98 to be the most unique of the three, and it also has the highest playability potential.

I don’t love the idea of shoehorning a racket that doesn’t suit my game, so I don’t think I’ll ever make the switch, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate greatness when I feel it.

3. Yonex Percept 97

The Yonex Percept 97 is firmly in top spot for my potential racket switches right now. There are a few things keeping me from totally committing, like the presence of some other rackets on this list, but I am a huge fan.

This is, in my opinion, the best attempt at a racket that combines classic control with modern stabilization technology. This is the technology we first saw introduced on the Clash back in 2019, and it started making its way into control rackets throughout the industry; whenever something is marketed to be “more stable at a lower weight,” it probably has stabilization technology.

This tech has been effectively implemented in rackets like the Blade (StableFeel) and Radical (Auxetic 2.0), but especially in Wilson rackets like the V7 and V8 Blade, I’ve always found them too intrusive on feel. That’s the trade-off with stabilization technology; it expands a frame’s sweet spot to make it more forgiving on off-centre hits, but to achieve that, brands lay up their graphite in a non-traditional way, which takes away good feel.

This technology is called Stiff Racket Face Design in the Percept, and you do feel it a bit, but Yonex has struck a very good balance of easier stability while still maintaining excellent ball feel. The Percept provides a ton of feedback, and the sweet spot is precise enough while still being more forgiving than the average 97, and they’ve also removed Vibration Dampening Mesh (VDM), which is a dampening technology I was not a fan of.

I also just want to say I’m very happy brands are developing these stabilization technologies. As much as I romanticize the past, I play better tennis with a current Blade than I do one from 2006. Perhaps it doesn’t give me the same amazing feel on contact, but objectively, it’s a more well-rounded racket. I do think some of these technologies need further development because feel is so important in a control frame, but they’re going in the right direction, and Yonex is leading the way right now. The Percept 97 still feels and plays like a true control racket, and that’s why I like it so much.

2. Wilson RF 01 & 01 Pro

The two newcomers have come in very high on this list. At first, I told myself, “don’t get carried away, get over the honeymoon period,” but it’s over, and they’re still right up there. Now the RF 01 and 01 Pro are different, and both have qualities the other doesn’t, but I’m still not sure which one I prefer, so I’m going to put them together for the purpose of this article.

These have given me so much joy to play with; I feel like I’m taking a step back in time, and they’re giving me similar sensations I found in the legendary sticks of yesteryear.

The RF 01 and 01 Pro are special rackets in today’s industry because they don’t have much of the technology I mentioned earlier, so they have classic feel and incredible precision. The real beauty, though, is that they are so classic, but also don’t lack modern playability thanks to their undulating, oval beam. This makes them quicker, more powerful, and more spin-friendly than older Federer rackets, or really any other racket this good for an offensive, point-and-shoot style.

I may do a more in-depth comparison of the two in the future, but I’ll go over some of the key differences. The RF 01 feels quite a bit softer and more forgiving, but the 01 Pro is a bit more precise and has more of that RF 01 magic to it. The standard 01 feels great, but I do find that the Pro’s stiffer flex captures this line’s essence a little better — responsive, aggressive attacking precision.

They are two amazing frames. I haven’t played with them enough to say if I will switch, but I’m definitely considering it. They’re my favourite rackets of the year and my favourite Wilson rackets in a very long time.

 

1. Head Gravity Pro

Surprise, surprise… my favourite racket is the Gravity Pro. You’re a savant if you guessed it; I’m sure nobody saw this coming. In all seriousness, this has been my favourite racket for a while now, and I think I’ve made that abundantly clear, so I am going to try to keep it brief.

There’s really nothing like the Head Gravity Pro because it’s a 100-square-inch racket, so right off the bat, that means it’s pretty forgiving, at least more so than any racket with a 98-square-inch head or smaller. That’s physics; no matter what else is going on, more real estate in the hoop makes the sweet spot bigger. But unlike most 100s, this has some of the best control, precision, stability, and feel that you can get right now.

Those characteristics are more in line with what you’d expect on a Prestige, but it is so much more forgiving, and that’s the real magic of the Gravity Pro. It’s a combination that should not be possible, but it is, and it’s also impressively spin-friendly and powerful, considering it has such impeccable control. All of this is why so many advanced players, even pro players like Rublev and Zverev, like it so much, and why eventually, I think it will achieve legendary status.

Now, it’s not the perfect racket: it is quite heavy, and the head size and shape make it more sluggish than other player’s frames with smaller heads, so if you want something well-rounded, especially for an all-court game, there are better options out there.

That doesn’t matter too much to me; I’m fine sacrificing speed for its other qualities, so it’s my favourite racket right now, and it’s going to take something really special to remove its crown.

Final thoughts

It’s quite interesting because they are all very different — number one and number five really couldn’t be more different — but that shows that there isn’t one best playability characteristic, at least not for me.

Please feel free to come visit us in-store if you want to demo any of these rackets, you can also visit our YouTube channel for more in-depth video reviews and comparisons, and you can always visit us online when you are ready to purchase.