Babolat Pure Aero VS Tour

Tennis racquet names can twist your head at times. And they keep getting longer too. We had all gotten used to the Babolat Aero Pro line before Babolat decided to unify their bestsellers under the “Pure” series. So Rafael Nadal is now endorsing the Babolat Pure Aero (read about Rafa’s real racquet here). But then there is also the Babolat Pure Aero Tour, the Babolat Pure Aero +, the Babolat Pure Aero Lite, the Babolat Pure Aero Team, the Babolat Pure Aero Play, and the Babolat Pure Aero 112!

(Check out the entire Babolat Pure Aero line at Tennis Express).

But that is not enough. Because now Babolat is bringing back the old Babolat Aero Storm GT Tour as the Babolat Pure Aero VS Tour! Jeez. That is a lot of Babolat Pure Aeros!

So what is this Pure Aero VS Tour and how does it play? Well, as I said, this racquet is not entirely new and it has been endorsed by American top player Jack Sock in the Stars and Stripes paint job. No, this is not entirely true either, because the Stars and Stripes version that Jack Sock has been using/endorsing is not the slightly heavier “tour” version and used to only be called Aero Storm GT a few years back. Anyway.

Let’s look at the specs of the Babolat Pure Aero VS Tour:

Looks pretty tasty right? I have been using older generations of this model and it has great control and decent spin, but unless you string it exceptionally and ridiculously low, your wrist/elbow or whatever injury you usually get from stiff racquets will start to hurt you. As you might know, RA might differ depending on what racquet you get. Tennis Express lists their RA at 66, which must be strung, while Babolat themselves lists the stiffness rating at 72. I would hesitate to recommend any racquet with a stiffness rating above 70, but the new Pure Drives play pretty “soft” for high RA ratings so it’s not impossibly to have a high RA and more soft-playing frame. If you remember the Wilson 6.1 Pro Staff Classic (there is a 25 year anniversary edition that you can buy from certain retailers) it had a listed RA at 72, but I never heard anyone complain about stiffness-related injuries from using it.

However, with the memory of the Babolat Aero Storm GT Tour and how that racquet played, I would hesitate to buy the Babolat Pure Aero VS Tour without demoing it. It can simply be an arm-breaker for a lot of players. But if you have good technique, enjoy stringing at really low tensions and really like a controlled yet powerful racquet – the Babolat Pure Aero VS Tour could be the one for you.