Wilson Absolutely KILLED it with the Roland Garros Rackets. They Successfully Took the Torch from Babolat

mpournaras

Hall of Fame
They took their clean PJs and added some clay colored flair. Only put the RG logo on there once (looking at you Babolat).

They have done a Clash 100 and a Blade (16 x 19)

The Blade in particular is super clean and interesting looking. I understand they are delayed and to be released eventually

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teitat

New User
It’s a matter of opinion. I think they look ugly. Currently playing with the Blade v7 and still not a fan of Wilson’s current pj design across their lineup. Uninspired and lazy.
I thought I was the only one that doesn't like Wilson's current pj template. No patterns, no geometric shapes, just 4 segments of solid color. Sometimes simplicity works, but this is just lazy.
Head have also been quite lazy with their designs. Split diagonally down the throat with two solid colors. At leasy they do something interesting with the names.
 

MasterZeb

Hall of Fame
Oh my god. This might actually make me try the blade now. I’ve heard so many good things about the racket and seen so many play with it, but I’ve said no to it simply because I hate the neon green
 

mpournaras

Hall of Fame
Oh my god. This might actually make me try the blade now. I’ve heard so many good things about the racket and seen so many play with it, but I’ve said no to it simply because I hate the neon green
Yeah the departure from black and gold was a mistake. Green is just so... garrish and looks aimed at juniors
 

JoaoN

Semi-Pro
They took their clean PJs and added some clay colored flair. Only put the RG logo on there once (looking at you Babolat).

They have done a Clash 100 and a Blade (16 x 19)

The Blade in particular is super clean and interesting looking. I understand they are delayed and to be released eventually

image_7a4c0cfb-fd9b-44af-b6ac-fc0c81dd8ea2_1800x1800.jpg

image_013728c0-2825-41b2-a0f6-2d870843143f_1800x1800.jpg
What do you mean with "released eventually"?

These are being sold in my country for months now.
 

PistolPete23

Hall of Fame
Aesthetics aside, using that blocky color scheme from a manufacturing standpoint is about as inexpensive as it gets. That's why it's feasible for them to offer a customizable option on their website. I actually wish a manufacturer would try giving us a racquet without paint at all or just a clear coat so that the layup would be visible. Would be really cheap to manufacture and IMO also look badass. I mean, the RF97a is already black all over; why not just not paint it at all except for the necessary brand logos?
 

Shaolin

G.O.A.T.
Wilsons always look boring and outdated.

They should just go all black with nothing on them. Wait, they ruined that concept also.
 

Crazy Finn

Hall of Fame
My reaction to these is the same as my reaction to almost all of the current Wilson aesthetics.... meh. It neither offends nor is particularly interesting.

I prefer the Babolat ones, so far. They might have often been garish or not been nice in my opinion, but at least they were usually something - maybe ugly. I prefer bold and garish to bland blah whatever. Interesting counts, even if it's not great.

The clash paintjob is probably marginally better than the standard clash look. I like the black blade look better than whatever this is - it's not bad, it's just... shrug-worthy.
 

mpournaras

Hall of Fame
My local courts are always full of them come French Open every time. Tons of La Decima PA still around in fact. I own two of RG APD as well (bottom right in top pic). RG are pretty popular in my circles and I've seen them on courts whenever I've traveled around as well.

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I don't trust anyone with that many clean rackets all wrapped and strung identically to perfection. That is some serial killer stuff :eek:
 

tsamo

Semi-Pro
I personally don't like Wilson's paint-jobs these last few years. The only one I liked was Federer's Laver Cup Special Editions and the Clash one. I was waiting for a chance to try the Clash line and this paint-job pushed me over the edge :giggle::giggle:!
Curious about the grip though. I plan to put a leather one with the Roland Garros Overgrips of Wilson I got a while back, but first I'm going to try hitting with its default one.
Wondering if it'll be released down the road or if it's going to be a one time thing for these special editions...
 

Pitti

Rookie
Has anyone tried those 'second-tier' French Open racquets from Wilson called "Team" and "Équipe"? Maybe with a little bit of lead here and there they could make a decent 'second/third racquet'.

EDIT: These are the Équipe and Team racquets I was talking about.
 
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haqq777

Legend
I don't trust anyone with that many clean rackets all wrapped and strung identically to perfection. That is some serial killer stuff :eek:
Hah! COVID-19 tennis break was driving me crazy. Had to keep busy. New grommets, strings and overgrips for every stick. Entire bag and contents wiped so clean you could lick stuff off them.
 

JackSockIsTheBest

Professional
I personally use babolat and i think the colorway for wilson is ugly like brown and blue... what is that!! even though the babolat ones are ugly too but more interesting
 
D

Deleted member 768841

Guest
My local courts are always full of them come French Open every time. Tons of La Decima PA still around in fact. I own two of RG APD as well (bottom right in top pic). RG are pretty popular in my circles and I've seen them on courts whenever I've traveled around as well.

KXUZhPE.jpg


JoUPcYc.jpg
I think I’m gonna have to put another pair of pants on...
 

crabby

Rookie
More interesting than the pj is the stiffness rating of the clash: tennispro.eu rates it as 49RA. Knew it was pretty low but 49??
 
I really liked the 2017(?) paint jobs from Wilson. The black with the lime green on the Blades was great as was the Ultra, Burn, etc. I am not a fan of their latest paint jobs but that hasn’t deterred me from playing with the updated Blade 16x19. Love the subtle improvements they made to that frame. I have been a Blade user since the 2017s came out and used the previous version (2015) a fair bit as well.
 

sanister

Professional
Well the #1 selling frame is the clash 100 so they already have those numbers going for them.
Seems like that might be the case within Wilson where Clash sold more than other Wilson lines,but I couldn't find any numbers/data to suggest Clash 100 sold more than other brand manufacturers.Purely from anecdotal evidence,all the pro shop owners/managers I have chit chatted with said that while Clash 100 (& Gravity from Head as well) sold in very good numbers,Babolats still outsold them by 2 to 1,in some cases by an even higher margin.Rec crowd loves their Babs.If you do have some data though,please feel free to share.Would be interesting to look at sales figures.
 

sanister

Professional
More interesting than the pj is the stiffness rating of the clash: tennispro.eu rates it as 49RA. Knew it was pretty low but 49??
There has to be some mistake there.Maybe QC issue? 49 is indeed too low.My Clash 100 is 56 RA & it was the lowest among bunch of 6 I picked from.
 

sp1derman

Professional
It’s a matter of opinion. I think they look ugly. Currently playing with the Blade v7 and still not a fan of Wilson’s current pj design across their lineup. Uninspired and lazy.

Well said. I love my v7 blade but hate the paint scheme and all of the paint blocking across Wilson's current lineup.
 

Power Player

Bionic Poster
Seems like that might be the case within Wilson where Clash sold more than other Wilson lines,but I couldn't find any numbers/data to suggest Clash 100 sold more than other brand manufacturers.Purely from anecdotal evidence,all the pro shop owners/managers I have chit chatted with said that while Clash 100 (& Gravity from Head as well) sold in very good numbers,Babolats still outsold them by 2 to 1,in some cases by an even higher margin.Rec crowd loves their Babs.If you do have some data though,please feel free to share.Would be interesting to look at sales figures.

I dont but I was told that by a tennis shop that has all the numbers. And then I saw a video posted here somewhere by that youtuber who owns a tennis shop and makes a lot of gear vids. He said the same thing, that it was the top selling frame.

So who really knows, I have a feeling if anyone shares that data here it will get pulled, but maybe somebody can.

EDIT - found the vid.

 
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fed1

Professional
I dont but I was told that by a tennis shop that has all the numbers. And then I saw a video posted here somewhere by that youtuber who owns a tennis shop and makes a lot of gear vids. He said the same thing, that it was the top selling frame.

So who really knows, I have a feeling if anyone shares that data here it will get pulled, but maybe somebody can.

EDIT - found the vid.


I know that our club the Clash really cut into our Babloat sales to the point where had Babolat managers and our local rep were asking specific questions related to our Clash sales so something is definitely going on with the numbers.
 

sanister

Professional
I dont but I was told that by a tennis shop that has all the numbers. And then I saw a video posted here somewhere by that youtuber who owns a tennis shop and makes a lot of gear vids. He said the same thing, that it was the top selling frame.

So who really knows, I have a feeling if anyone shares that data here it will get pulled, but maybe somebody can.

EDIT - found the vid.

Yeah thx, have seen this video.Perhaps his shop sells more Clash.But from personal experience I've chatted with many pro shop owners & managers who have mentioned otherwise tht makes it a bit unsubstantiated to me.The Clash 100 was selling well no doubt, & when it was launched I saw it in the hands of most club mixers & rec league players especially older ladies but then it sort of wore off too.Taking the throne from Babs is no easy ask because they have been basically ruling the tweener realm & I know friends who just went back to their Babs and head speeds (even the prince Phantom 100P).Of course, that is all just my experience really hence I said would be interesting to see actual numbers etc.
 

haqq777

Legend
Yeah thx, have seen this video.Perhaps his shop sells more Clash.But from personal experience I've chatted with many pro shop owners & managers who have mentioned otherwise tht makes it a bit unsubstantiated to me.The Clash 100 was selling well no doubt, & when it was launched I saw it in the hands of most club mixers & rec league players especially older ladies but then it sort of wore off too.Taking the throne from Babs is no easy ask because they have been basically ruling the tweener realm & I know friends who just went back to their Babs and head speeds (even the prince Phantom 100P).Of course, that is all just my experience really hence I said would be interesting to see actual numbers etc.
Agreed. Clash 100 is definitely popular but I don't think it is outselling Babolats, at least from what I have gathered and seen in my circles. Multiple pro shop owners have mentioned to me that they are still selling more Babolats PA and PD than any other racquet. But my area has a lot of younger demographic too and pro endorsements go a long way when it comes to that market segment.
 
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