Australian Open Racquet Changes

by Jonas Eriksson

We have noticed a few Australian Open racquet changes among the pros. Tommy Paul, Alex De Minaur and Magda Linette to name a few.

Australian Open racquet changes

The first slam of the year always comes with a bunch of surprises. This year we have seen big strides being made by Americans on the men’s side and had a slightly more predictable women’s tournament.

Tommy Paul has reached his first grand slam semi-final after moving from his Wilson Blade 98 to a Yonex VCORE 98. Or is it the 98? Maybe it’s the 95? Because if you count the strings on Tommy Paul’s racquet, it’s a 16×20 pattern. So it’s possible that he has switched to a smaller head size. But then again, the new Yonex VCORE 95 plays more like a 98 than its name.

Paul beat Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals. Ben has recently made a move from his Yonex VCORE Pro 97 HD to a Yonex Ezone 98. And he has played some spectacular tennis with that racquet. Is Shelton using Poly Tour Rev or Fire or something else? If you know, please post in the comments field.

In other Yonex stories, we have Magda Linette, playing her best slam ever. In July 2022, she switched from her Babolat Pure Drive 100 to the Yonex Ezone 100 and she hasn’t looked back.

Wilson land

Stefanos Tsitsipas has been going back and forth in between full bed Luxilon 4G, a hybrid with natural gut, a gut/Alu Power hybrid and now he seems to be back with a full bed of Luxilon 4G again. And he is back in fine form (semi-finals at least).

Another Wilson boy is Alex de Minaur who is using a Wilson Steam 99 strung with natural gut in the mains and Luxilon 4G Rough in the crosses. He used to play a full bed of 4G rough, but the gut will provide a softer and slightly more powerful response.

I still get loads of questions about Sebastian Korda’s racquet.  The simple answer is that I don’t know. It could be his old Blade 98 with an 18×19 pattern or some racquet in the upcoming Wilson Shift series. If you know, don’t hesitate to reach out. Despite having to retire against another Wilson boy in Karen Khachanov (back to his H22), Korda showed great tennis and could have been a threat to the title if he had remained healthy.

Have you noticed any other racquet switches? The comments field is your friend.

You may also like

2 comments

Andrew January 26, 2023 - 00:18

Thanks Nerd! I feel like you posted this just for me.

Reply
Michael January 30, 2023 - 21:58

Ben Shelton is using the Poly Tour Rev, according to Yonex’s instagram page (@yonex_usa).

Reply

Leave a Comment