Kristie Ahn Talks Pure Drives & Puppies! (Why she switched racquets & what she's learned in the past year on & off the court)

[TW Staff]

Kristie Ahn joins us to talk all about her new puppy...and her new racquet, the Babolat Pure Drive! She gives us an insight as to why she skipped the Australian swing and spent some quality time in Korea, how she ended up with an absolutely, adorable new puppy and why it was time for a change when it came to gear!

She gets into the nitty gritty on her demo process from everything on her history with racquets, to what led her to a bigger more powerful racquet and which frames she demo'd!

➤Follow Kristie Ahn on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kahn1/?hl=en
➤on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kristieahn?lang=en

➤Start your own demo: https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/demoprogram.html
➤Check out the 2021 Babolat Pure Drive: https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Babolat_Pure_Drive_2021/descpageRCBAB-BRPDR.html

Happy Hitting!

 

[StringGuruMRT]

Listened this morning on the commute to work... Really enjoyed it!

 

[Nostradamus]

Great video. and when's Kristie coming back to the tour ? Go Card

 

[sureshs]

Great video. and when's Kristie coming back to the tour ? Go Card

Nosty, were you on the Stanford men's tennis team at the same time Kristie was on the women's side?

 

[TW Staff]

Great video. and when's Kristie coming back to the tour ? Go Card

@Nostradamus,

As she mentions in the episode, she's back. She played Monterrey and Miami and will be heading to Europe next month!

Michelle, TW

 

[McLovin]

As she mentions in the episode, she's back. She played Monterrey and Miami and will be heading to Europe next month!

Michelle, TW

Finally listened this morning on my way into work. I fully support her stance on footwear when NOT playing tennis. Sandals/flip-flops, all day, every day!

 

[TW Staff]

Finally listened this morning on my way into work. I fully support her stance on footwear when NOT playing tennis. Sandals/flip-flops, all day, every day!

@McLovin
Literally just told her how it's her fault I'm now actively shopping for Birkenstocks!

Michelle, TW

 

[tlsmikey]

One of my daughters favorite players. They ball kidded for her at the Mubadala and said she was super nice to everyone. My daughter told me she adopted the dog she walked out with but I didn't believe her...hahahahaha.

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

 

[TW Staff]

Yep, she was a Wilson sponsored player before switching to the Strike, and now the Pure Drive (she mentions demoing the new blade) and still uses Lux strings!

Michelle, TW

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

Yep, she was a Wilson sponsored player before switching to the Strike, and now the Pure Drive (she mentions demoing the new blade) and still uses Lux strings!

Michelle, TW

. . Yup, and she prolly switched to the Babolat Pure Rocket Launcher Drive : ) because she didn't have your forehand's giddy-up!

.

 

[puppybutts]

i was kind of sad when she changed to the pure drive. the pure strike is so popular among college and rec players, but aside from thiem/cornet, i can't think of any pro player who uses it (i guess giorgi up until recently). i wonder why more pros don't like it.

 

[hurworld]

Shame Kristie has to retire from the sport so soon

 

[TW Staff]

Agreed!
We will miss her on the court but I'm sure she will do awesome no matter what comes next for her

Michelle, TW

 

[puppybutts]

Agreed!
We will miss her on the court but I'm sure she will do awesome no matter what comes next for her

Michelle, TW

Any chance you might have a "retirement" podcast with her? she's had some nice career highlights....making round of 16 at US Open, taking a set off Serena Williams, beating Heather Watson at Wimbledon, and my favorite- having a 2-0 H2H against Ostapenko

 

[TW Staff]

Any chance you might have a "retirement" podcast with her? she's had some nice career highlights....making round of 16 at US Open, taking a set off Serena Williams, beating Heather Watson at Wimbledon, and my favorite- having a 2-0 H2H against Ostapenko

She has! And I think she speaks about that in either this one or one of the previous ones we did! I will ask!
Stay tuned...
Michelle, TW

 

[puppybutts]

She has! And I think she speaks about that in either this one or one of the previous ones we did! I will ask!
Stay tuned...
Michelle, TW

Yep she's talked about a lot of those moments! Didn't mean to ask for repeat topics but if she had any additional thoughts to give. If not no worries

 

[MRfStop]

Pretty sure PD destroyed her elbow

 

[TW Staff]

Pretty sure PD destroyed her elbow

Did you see her tape jobs when she was using the Project One.7 Strike?? Also, don't think she's retiring completely due to an injury...I think you can hear an interesting mind-shift from her even in this episode when she discusses her time in Korea.

Either way, she's awesome and only wishing her health and happiness no matter what she does next!
Michelle, TW

 

[MRfStop]

Did you see her tape jobs when she was using the Project One.7 Strike?? Also, don't think she's retiring completely due to an injury...I think you can hear an interesting mind-shift from her even in this episode when she discusses her time in Korea.

Either way, she's awesome and only wishing her health and happiness no matter what she does next!
Michelle, TW

Babolats* destroyed her elbow

 

[mad dog1]

Did you see her tape jobs when she was using the Project One.7 Strike?? Also, don't think she's retiring completely due to an injury...I think you can hear an interesting mind-shift from her even in this episode when she discusses her time in Korea.

Either way, she's awesome and only wishing her health and happiness no matter what she does next!
Michelle, TW

Project One.7 gave me elbow pain, but PDs at an even higher RA don't. go figure. But it was great to hear that even pro players find that there are certain racquets that just work better for them.

 

[TW Staff]

All that being said, she did chose those racquets...she wasn't under contract with Babolat or anything.
And she definitely did a lot of demoing!

That's all I got
Michelle, TW

 

[mad dog1]

All that being said, she did chose those racquets...she wasn't under contract with Babolat or anything.
And she definitely did a lot of demoing!

That's all I got
Michelle, TW

i'm not under contract and I choose Babolat Pure Drives and the Solinco Blackout!

 

[snoflewis]

i'm not under contract and I choose Babolat Pure Drives and the Solinco Blackout!

you deserve a solinco sponsorship after that review you wrote on the playtest thread

 

[hurworld]

She has! And I think she speaks about that in either this one or one of the previous ones we did! I will ask!
Stay tuned...
Michelle, TW

Thanks for following up on this Michelle! Always love to hear from the touring pros share their experience. Don't think any of us can ever fully understand how tough touring life can be unless we are in it.