New Racquet Releases 2024

Mischko

Professional
I'm just praying for an ultra stiff throat, in all directions, like RF97 and Aero VS, and that lighter ones are also proper sharp. This line clearly inherits some of the Shift mould and shapes.

That lateral bend in the throat is what didn't work for the Shift 315g, for me, but its feel was great on impact, too wide beam was also very clunky, and it was too heavy, 305g would have been optimal, and 295sw unstrung. Shift 300 lacks strings in mains with that wide beam, lacks control for us power hitters, lacks the solidity and feel of the 315g, and the 315g one is just too heavy with too high sw, total fail for the line. Good job MBAs, thumbs up..

So I would hope for a perfect mix of those 3 racquets, and as close to VS as possible, I just have to have a flat power drive and that energy return

I sincerely hope they haven't messed up the 300g version, like they did with the original 2014 315g PS97. Basically RF97A was too heavy for most use cases, but super sharp in every way, and 315g one was aimed more at intermediate players, softened up, good but just not sharp enough for me, so both ended up being kind of useless, although I played the RF97 for some 6 years or so. And I haven't even mentioned the original ultra lame pj, so annoying.

I hate how a line with so many cons ended up selling so well, to hell with lobotomized bean counter MBAs. While the first part of this post are my wishes and dreams, if I'm realistic, I fully expect bean counters to have almost completely f***** up this line as well, and probably in the exact same way. So we might get a 320g that is sharp and competitive, but super heavy and slow compared to the VS, and then a 300g that's just softened up, 'for the masses' and just useless
 

jlouie

Rookie
Hit with the Pro today. Definitely not a 21.5mm beam. Thicker for sure.

Feels like a mix of the Blade and Speed MP to me. It's whippier than the Blade for sure. Feel is similar..it's definitely not a pro staff. Hits nothing like the RF97As. Definitely a spin frame.

Doesn't feel like 320g, and swings fast. Stability is fine, but could benefit from a few grams at 3/9.

Wish I could have measured the swing weight,but I would guess around 315.

Not really sure where it lands in the Wilson silos... probably somewhere between Blade and Shift.
I saw that the listed spec was 21.5mm on the Swedish site, but it was leaked on reddit w/ as a variable beam width.
 

Raizu

Semi-Pro
For me this is feeling like Pure Aero 98. Aero beam, dense 16x19 string pattern. It will probably be stiff. Wilson doesn’t really have anything like Aero 98, but strange to be associated with RF in my opinion.
It’s soft and crisp like a Pro Staff 6.1 but has a lot more power. Surprisingly a racquet I’ll consider the day I put down my 6.1 18x20. That’s all I can say until it’s release.
 

mogo

Semi-Pro
Looks like the bottom of the throat has a Clash like indentation and the rest of the hoop looks Shift like. Of course these observations are just from internet pictures. I really want to see if the slice will be as penetrating and as low as the RF97A.
 

gino

Legend
Yeah it mostly reminds me of my ps 6.1 95. I have about 8hrs of matchplay on mine now.

It's a nice mix of blade and prostaff. It's like an easier blade pro.

are you referencing the RF01 pro? if so, what makes it similar to a 6.1 95? 6.1 95 seems boxier beam and obviously has pws
 

Raizu

Semi-Pro
are you referencing the RF01 pro? if so, what makes it similar to a 6.1 95? 6.1 95 seems boxier beam and obviously has pws
Very maneuverable yet the 16x19 and wider frame gives it a ton of pop for the amount of feel the frame provides. As soon as I get my personal ones I’ll customize it my liking.
 

jlouie

Rookie
Just found pics online. How many RF logos did they stick on that thing? Jeez…
How many were there? I only saw one on the throat (tiny wilson logo on the other side) and one on the grip (which someone mentioned they were also launching retail RF accessories).
 

Chairman3

Hall of Fame
If the Burn was a 98, I would literally think this was a repainted Burn with a leather grip.
The throat is slightly different but the rest looks pretty close.
 

Automatix

Legend
If the Burn was a 98, I would literally think this was a repainted Burn with a leather grip.
The throat is slightly different but the rest looks pretty close.
Different throat, different shaft, the grommet channel end is "squared" of and not rounded.
I recommend comparing to V4 due to the black paintjob.
Also different string spacing.
 
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A_Instead

Legend
So.. Making an assumption that this frame is already being used on both Tours under various paint..
If so...by whom?
 

Soundbyte

Hall of Fame
So.. Making an assumption that this frame is already being used on both Tours under various paint..
If so...by whom?
Why? No one on tour uses modern frames. They're all uses the frames they grew up using, so usually they're using frames that are several generations old (if not fully custom frames to begin with).
The exception to this is Murray with his recent retail Yonex switch. Alcaraz uses the PAVS, but he's also young so he was probably 15 when he started using it.
I wouldn't expect any on tour (at least at the higher levels) to use a current generation racket.
Sure lower ranked players on tour like the Tennis Gladiators, Felix, etc use them, because they'll get them for free from their sponsors.
But I'd be shocked if anyone in the top 20 on either the ATP or WTA is using a current generation frame
 

Automatix

Legend
Why? No one on tour uses modern frames. They're all uses the frames they grew up using, so usually they're using frames that are several generations old (if not fully custom frames to begin with).
The exception to this is Murray with his recent retail Yonex switch. Alcaraz uses the PAVS, but he's also young so he was probably 15 when he started using it.
I wouldn't expect any on tour (at least at the higher levels) to use a current generation racket.
Sure lower ranked players on tour like the Tennis Gladiators, Felix, etc use them, because they'll get them for free from their sponsors.
But I'd be shocked if anyone in the top 20 on either the ATP or WTA is using a current generation frame
Can't really pinpoint the generation but...
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova did switch to a Burn model AFAIR.
Williams sisters did switch quite a bit.
Ivanovic also switched quite a lot?
Nadia Petrova did switch to Aerostorm from her Storm MP.
Hingis also switched a lot IIRC - not as many times as the paintjob would indicate but still,
Kirilenko did go with the RQiS-2 at some point.
Nicole Vaidisova similarly to Kirilenko.
Halep didn't grow up with the Steam 99 model either...
Verdasco was a notorious racquet switcher and did switch to the Yonex RDiS 200 mold (I don't have any info if the racquet had a custom layup) and actually one a tournament with it but still decided to switch again...
Ljubicic did switch from Pure Drive to the Extreme though his was tweaked at some point (custom string pattern?).

Though I generally agree with what you're trying to say I think that there are cases to be made... we don't know a lot about custom layups in some of the cases mentioned above.

Sorry for the old players examples but I don't follow pros as I used to.
 
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Alcawrath

Professional
Alcaraz uses the PAVS, but he's also young so he was probably 15 when he started using it.
I wouldn't expect any on tour (at least at the higher levels) to use a current generation racket.
But I'd be shocked if anyone in the top 20 on either the ATP or WTA is using a current generation frame
I'm pretty sure Alcaraz and Rune are actually using the PA98
 

lidoazndiabloboi

Hall of Fame
Why? No one on tour uses modern frames. They're all uses the frames they grew up using, so usually they're using frames that are several generations old (if not fully custom frames to begin with).
The exception to this is Murray with his recent retail Yonex switch. Alcaraz uses the PAVS, but he's also young so he was probably 15 when he started using it.
I wouldn't expect any on tour (at least at the higher levels) to use a current generation racket.
Sure lower ranked players on tour like the Tennis Gladiators, Felix, etc use them, because they'll get them for free from their sponsors.
But I'd be shocked if anyone in the top 20 on either the ATP or WTA is using a current generation frame
Can I ask what is your definition of a modern frame? Is there a Year cutoff? Take the Blade for example, would you consider that a modern frame? Is only the V9 considered modern? The 1st gen Blade came out 2007 i believe, and the mold remains largely unchanged, with changes coming from the layup.
 

Soundbyte

Hall of Fame
Can I ask what is your definition of a modern frame? Is there a Year cutoff? Take the Blade for example, would you consider that a modern frame? Is only the V9 considered modern? The 1st gen Blade came out 2007 i believe, and the mold remains largely unchanged, with changes coming from the layup.
Sorry, in this context I was referring to current generation or even prior 1 or 2 generations. I'd be surprised if any players are using frames from after 2020.
So if pro players are using the Blade, I suspect they are using the version of the blade that they grew up using. So I doubt anyone is actually using the V9 layup version of the Blade.
 

lidoazndiabloboi

Hall of Fame
Why? No one on tour uses modern frames. They're all uses the frames they grew up using, so usually they're using frames that are several generations old (if not fully custom frames to begin with).
The exception to this is Murray with his recent retail Yonex switch. Alcaraz uses the PAVS, but he's also young so he was probably 15 when he started using it.
I wouldn't expect any on tour (at least at the higher levels) to use a current generation racket.
Sure lower ranked players on tour like the Tennis Gladiators, Felix, etc use them, because they'll get them for free from their sponsors.
But I'd be shocked if anyone in the top 20 on either the ATP or WTA is using a current generation frame
Alcaraz had changed from a Pure Aero to Pure Aero VS in 2021, age of 17.

Sorry, in this context I was referring to current generation or even prior 1 or 2 generations. I'd be surprised if any players are using frames from after 2020.
So if pro players are using the Blade, I suspect they are using the version of the blade that they grew up using. So I doubt anyone is actually using the V9 layup version of the Blade.
So essentially you feel the layup is what makes the racket modern? In my opinion, almost all of the tour uses modern frames. I would categorize the PT57A, Prestige Mids, maybe Radical 95 as some of the remaining non-modern frames remaining. An Aeropro Drive from 2005 is as modern of a racket as anything currently on the market.

Now let's look at which players are using more recent rackets. You have Tommy Paul using the 23 VC98, Paolini using the 21 VC100, Emma Navarro using 21 VC98. Zverev and Rublev both using "1st" gen Gravity. Musetti using '20 G360+ Extreme Tour. These are just a few players im pointing out.
 

totbl

New User
Why? No one on tour uses modern frames. They're all uses the frames they grew up using, so usually they're using frames that are several generations old (if not fully custom frames to begin with).
The exception to this is Murray with his recent retail Yonex switch. Alcaraz uses the PAVS, but he's also young so he was probably 15 when he started using it.
I wouldn't expect any on tour (at least at the higher levels) to use a current generation racket.
Sure lower ranked players on tour like the Tennis Gladiators, Felix, etc use them, because they'll get them for free from their sponsors.
But I'd be shocked if anyone in the top 20 on either the ATP or WTA is using a current generation frame

Now let's look at which players are using more recent rackets. You have Tommy Paul using the 23 VC98, Paolini using the 21 VC100, Emma Navarro using 21 VC98. Zverev and Rublev both using "1st" gen Gravity. Musetti using '20 G360+ Extreme Tour. These are just a few players im pointing out.

While I agree it is more common for players to stick to their frames they've been using for many years, there are several exceptions making the statement "no one on tour uses modern frames" a bit silly.
In addition to the ones mentioned above, from the top of my head (not all Top 20 of course): Shelton uses the current Ezone 98 (currently Top 20), Nakashima and Nishioka the current VCore 98, Giron the current Percept 97D. Iga switched to a modern frame when she just won a grand slam 3 years ago I believe. Collins just switched to a Tecnifibre racket as well, which I believe is also current gen. Kasatkina is using a current gen Artengo (!) racket as well. Both Kasatkina and Collins are in the Top 20.
 

gino

Legend
It is rare for pros to immediately switch to new tech/beam designs/molds. I think the only new molds/frames we've seen immediate switches to in the modern era (last 20 years) are:
  • Babolat Aero Pro Drive : Nadal/Puerta
  • Prince O3 : Sharapova, Davydenko, Isner, etc
  • HEAD Liquidmetal Instinct: Gasquet (XL) and Youzhny
  • Wilson Blade 98: Marco Chiudinelli
  • Wilson Steam: Various players
  • Wilson RF97 : Roger Federer, Grigor Dimitrov
  • Babolat Pure Strike : Dominic Thiem
  • HEAD Gravity Pro : Zverev, Rublev
  • HEAD Extreme Tour : Berretini, Musetti
  • Babolat Pure Aero VS/98 : Alcaraz, Rune, Fils
  • Babolat Pure Drive VS : Jerry Shang
  • Wilson Shift: Maria Sakkari (then switched away)
Im sure there are more examples, just a few that were top of mind
 

Raizu

Semi-Pro
So.. Making an assumption that this frame is already being used on both Tours under various paint..
If so...by whom?
There are rumours as to who will use it but nothing is confirmed yet. It’s a racquet I can see someone like Sakkari use. There was a former top 20 men’s player who was testing it as well
 

peRFecto

New User
That RF 01 looks weirdly like a wilson shift. looks kinda cheap tbh. Hopefully the bags are nice. Not something you can really associate with federer but whatever puts money in the bank right
 

Honza

Semi-Pro
Dont like the silver tbh. It looks kind of like a reflection. I would prefer it all black.
I am very curious how it plays and the comparison to a blade 98.
 
Played the 300 and 320 today w ALU 1.25… the 320 is very stable with great plow and has a lot of spin but harder to swing… less feel than my ps97 played side by side… the 300 is easier to swing but less plow and power… all in all, played side by side, the ps97 has more control, the blade has more power… the RF has a higher launch, a ton of spin, and awesome plow on the 320… might buy 2 and put a pro performance grip on to lighten a little…
 
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