Best Rated Tennis Racquets – The Best Brands of Tennis Racquets

Irrespective of your level in the tennis game, choosing the right and good tennis racquet is the beginning of exploiting your strength. There are several brands with numerous designs that sometimes make it confusing for one to select from. You will know what I am talking about if you have ever come to a point to make a decision in buying a particular design of a racquet brand where you have several options. If you are at a point of making that decision too, don’t worry we are going to figure it out together through this post to make the right choice.

There comes the question; what is the best brand of tennis racquet or what is the best-rated tennis racquet? A popular question mostly asked when one have to make a choice but what I believe will do justice to this question is what goes in to make the design of the brand worthy of choice. Frankly speaking, one with interest in tennis will have to check a number of features presented by the design of that brand to make a wise choice.

This is what I will try as much as possible to deliver so that you make a right decision in selection. To be on the same page let briefly look at the overview of the tennis racquet and what the International Tennis Federation (ITF) specifies about racquets in a professional tennis game.

Overview of Tennis Racquet

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The racquet is a frame consisting of a handle, head and throat. The head which is connected to the handle forms a hitting surface with strings crossing each other to form a pattern. These strings crossing each other are interlaced alternatively or bonded together.

As regulated by the ITF, the pattern of the hitting surface must be uniform and of identical characteristics on both surfaces with no irregularities. So, a good racquet would have to possess all these features with other characteristics yet to be discussed.

The Standard Dimension Specification of Racquet by ITF

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The various designs of the racquets come in different sizes but the dimensions are governed by the ITF. The maximum dimensions which are not to be exceeded are as follows:

• overall length – 73.7 cm (28.0 inches)
• overall width – 31.7 cm (12.5 inches)
• the overall length of hitting surface parallel to the longitudinal axis of the handle – 39.4 cm (15.5 inches)
• the overall width of hitting surface perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the handle – 29.2 cm (11.5 inches)

All the various brands follow these regulations but different designs not exceeding the above are produced. One’s choice is dependent on a number of factors elaborated below.

What are the Best Brands Then?

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Among the several brands available for one to choose, the best brands used by the top-rated players are listed below:

• Babolat
• Wilson
• Head
• Yonex
• Volkl
• Prince

Apart from these major brands, other emerging brands in the game of tennis are;

• Gamma
• Tecnifibre
• ProKennex
• Dunlop

Out of the six major brands listed above the most used ones are the first four. But among the six major brands are families of designs which offer unique characteristics that a player would select from. So, I will be narrowing it down to the various families of designs to present you with the odds for easy selection.

Babolat – Rafael Nadal’s Favourite Brand

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This is one of the most popular brands used currently by the world’s number one ATP ranking, Rafael Nadal. It’s best known as modern player racquets. One can experience speed, power and spin from a range of this racquet brand suitable to a beginner, intermediate and advanced players.

In the line of this brand are three main families which come in different versions such as standard, models with respect to the weight, the overall length of the racquet and size of the head. In any case, their uniqueness is unchanged with the family. So, finding a family of a particular property that fits your taste is a go area for your selection.

Let’s delve straight into the families to see what we can find.

Babolat Pure Aero – Is one of the most used racquets of this brand that allows you to load your shots with great power. This is designed to complement the aggressive mechanics of the modern game. Its name was derived from the aerodynamic beam shape and stable feel. It enables players to hit balls at higher speed. It was previously known as Aero Pro Drive and it comes in different lengths, weights and sizes providing options for players at all levels to choose.

Previously, there were racquets of this family which were part of Aero Pure Storm and are now distinguished with VS. This family has a lot of potentials that would be of good value to consider. Anyway, let look at what the others too can offer.

Babolat Pure Drive – It’s another most popular racquet series optimized for speed, power and spin. It has a lighter and easy to use frames and is highly recommended to players with aggressive play style. This family bears so much resemblance to the Pure Aero family but has a different feeling. Mostly, it’s advisable for a demo session before buying. It’s available to all levels of players.

Babolat Pure Strike – is a user-friendly modern tennis racquet which provides control, feel, power and spin. It’s a thinner racquet with a flexible beam that offers better feedback and control. This family of the racquet is recommended to intermediate and advanced players who want to add control as well as feel to power and spin in their game.

The potential of these families makes me feel like I’m on a tennis court. They have awesome features that one might be tempted to have all of them. As stated, Pure Strike is for intermediate and advanced players whiles Pure Aero which is not much different from Pure Drive except the feel, is for all range of players. So, if you are interested in this brand and with your level, it should be clear the one to go for.

This brand is used by about 26 great tennis players both in ATP and WTP. About 2 and 3 of them are in the first 10 of the ATP and WTP rankings respectively. The male mentioned earlier as Rafael Nadal ranked first and the female named Caroline Wozniacki ranked second. Without jumping to a conclusion, let see what the other brands have to offer.

Wilson – Racquets for Some of The Most Iconic Players Ever Seen in Tennis

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This is a favourite brand for one of the greatest tennis players, Roger Federer. It provides distinctive classic racquets of control and speed as well as modern ones of power and spin for all range of players from beginner through advanced. Along the tennis game improvement, this American brand has four main families.

In each family comes to the various versions from standard Wilson through the models. Each like the Babolat has unique features that make them distinctive.

Wilson Pro Staff – this is known for its remarkable precision, control and classic feel. It has a more flexible beam. It is one of the most iconic families in this brand line of production. The predominant feature of this is controlling and thus has a head size at 97 or smaller of variable weights. This is a good selection for an advanced player of good mechanics and is also suitable for beginners and intermediate players as well.

Wilson Ultra – It is engineered for a wide variety of playing styles and suits the modern power game of pace and spin. It has a thick beam making the racquet stiffer and more explosive than the blade and the pro staff racquets. It is available for all categories of players from beginner to the advanced level. It also provides easy access to power and spin.

Wilson Blade – It’s a family of racquets loaded with precision, feel, control and spin and is available to all class of players. It is engineered for more response and easy access to spin. It also provides a more arm-friendly stroke but is less powerful than Ultra and Burn racquets.

Wilson Burn – It’s for modern and hard-charging tennis players looking for aggressive tennis game loaded with speed, power and spin. It’s a good selection for players of this nature. It has thick and firm beam punctuated by a crisp and lively response for players who want to add more rpm to their game. It is ideal for several spin generation and thus a good choice for seasonal spin players. This series is also available to all class of players.

In summary, the Ultra, Blade and Burn are good for all players from beginner to advanced whiles the Pro Staff is a good choice for intermediate and advanced players.

In the ATP and WTP games, about 27 great players led by Roger Federer, Simona Halep of rank 1, the Williams and other players use this brand of tennis racquets. It now getting tougher for one to choose looking at the profiles each are offering. Let keep digging.

Head – Largest and Terrific Tennis Brand

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This brand has existed in the history of tennis spanning over half a century and is available to players from beginners seeking comfort and power to advanced players searching for control and feel.

In the line of tennis development, this brand has 6 families of varying versions from standard to models of variable weight and head size.

Head Radical – This family is suitable for players who desire racquets optimized for speed, power, spin, control and feel. Head Radical tend to have moderate flex ratings making it slightly flexible than the average modern power racquets. Majority of this family is weighted for players at the intermediate and advanced level. There are other modified versions for beginners as well.

Head Prestige – It’s characterized by precision, control, stability and feel. This is an improved version and is specialized for more muted feel by dampening vibrations at the impact of the tennis ball. It’s a good choice for intermediate to advanced players looking for racquets of these characteristics.

Head Speed – Players looking for racquets that can offer good control, feel and spin will be served right to select this. It offers the speed and spin required of modern player racquets. The majority of its production line features thinner and more flexible beams giving them great control and feel. In addition, it provides customization option of adaptive tuning of string pattern as well as power options for beginners and anyone seeking a preferred setting. It’s available for beginners, intermediate and advanced players looking for quick swinging styles and control.

Head Extreme – It’s recommended for big swing modern players seeking power, speed and spin to their game. It has thick and lively beams giving modern players impressive stability. It also enables effective loading of shots at a regular pace and getting the ball bouncing. It has only two weights available for beginners to advanced players who want to generate more power and variety of spins in their game.

Head Instinct – It’s engineered specifically to deliver more power and spin. It’s a user-friendly modern racquet that comes with open 16 by 19 string pattern to maximize spin potential. It also comes with an adaptive feature that one can tune to suit one’s need. It’s ability to accommodate light and heavy options make it flexible to customize it to features that fit beginners and intermediate players.

Header MXG – It’s the newest family to this brand and is specially weighted for players in the beginning and intermediate level. It’s designed for its outstanding speed, power and spin. It features Magnesium throat bridge serving as a stability enhancement and accommodates longer main strings for extra comfort and power. It’s a good option for improving beginners and intermediate players.

In summary, the prestige is for intermediate and advanced players whiles instinct and MXG are weighted for beginner and intermediate players. The rest of the three are designed for all class of players.

There are about 18 great players in professional tennis that use this brand of tennis. Just to mention a few such as Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Andy Murray, Sloane Stephens, Ashleigh Barty and the likes feature this brand of the tennis racquet.

Yonex – Isometric Shape Racquets

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The shape of this brand offers a large hitting surface suitable for delivering shots of more power as well as control in a tennis game. It has four different families which I will briefly touch on.

Yonex EZONE – Provides a good measure of speed, power, control and spin. It’s also more flexible and arm-friendly. It fit players ranging from beginner to advanced level who seek controllable power racquets with an amazing feel.

Yonex EZONE DR – offers racquets of remarkable control, spin and feel. It’s available to players from beginner level all the way to advanced and has average stability for the ranges of weights and lengths.

Yonex VCore Spin Vortex (SV) – It provides a combination of power and precision to players. Its extended length version is a good deal for modern aggressive baseliners who want to be in control of their game and are for all class of players.

Yonex VCore Duel G – It provides players with extra control of the game and an amazing feel with a slightly traditional spec profile. It has thinner beam compared to Ezone and Vcore families. Its heaviest models are great for advanced players looking for control, feel and shot cut-through in their games. The lighter ones provide a good deal for intermediate players.

Overall, the VCore SV and Duel G will be a good choice for intermediate and advanced players whiles the rest is for all class of players. About 18 professional players use this brand and prominent among them are Angelique Kerber, Belinda Bencic, Hyeon Chung, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Steve Johnson and the likes.

Volkl – Option for Ball Attackers

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This brand is not commonly used but has a good option for modern players seeking power and speed. There are about five families of this brand which are as a result of variations in power, precision, spin, control, feel and speed. The families are:

1. Volkl V-Feel
2. Volkl VSENSE
3. Volkl Super G
4. Volkl Organix
5. Volkl Pro & Classic

Most families of this brand are used for all class of players but the V-Feel and VSENSE are more geared towards intermediate and advanced players. Professional players who use this brand are Nicolas Almagro and Laura Siegemund.

Prince – Provides Good Feel

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Another brand at bracket with the Volkl brand. It has about 7 families making it the largest family among the various brands. They are;

1. Prince Tour
2. Prince Beast
3. Prince Phantom
4. Prince Warrior
5. Prince Classic
6. Prince Lightning
7. Prince Premier

These names look like they were carefully taken to suit the name “Prince”. It’s also less popular and is seen among professional players like John Isner and Lucas Pouille

Conclusion – Declaring Best Brands and Making a Choice

As discussed above there is a wide range of options for one to choose from but the brands I will recommend are Babolat, Wilson, Head and Yonex. That still seems like a lot of confusion because these brands come with families and versions.

Based on best-selling data gathered, pinning it down to the best options available for each brand, I will recommend Pure Aero, Pure Drive and Pure Strike 98 for the brand of Babolat. For one seeking Wilson brand, Pro staff RF97 and Blade 98 are highly recommended.

Radical versions of the Head brand will be good for one to take a look at and EZONE DR 98, VCore Duel G 97 is also a good choice for one to consider.

I hope this will be of good assistance in making your choice of racquet. I will consider myself as a Babolat fan since I enjoy playing with this brand.

Without considering my recommendation, what do you think will be the best brand and family to choose for a tennis game? I will be glad to get back to you if you can share your view in the comment box below.