A lot of people wonder how a relatively short guy like Kei Nishikori can get so much power out of his shots. If you’re interested in Nishikori’s racquet this is the post for you.
Contrary to what most people think, Nishikori is not playing with the racquet model he endorses, the Wilson Burn 95, but an older model called the Wilson BLX Tour
(review by Tennis Warehouse on the link). Still, the Wilson Burn series of racquets is a very popular line for a reason – it simply gives amateurs to advanced players a lot of power and with the new Wilson Burn Countervail series, it also has a more dampened response for sensitive tennis elbows. I really think the Countervail technology works great, especially in the Wilson Burns
and I can recommend them to a wide group of players looking for some free power.
If you have a bit of a sensitive elbow, I would recommend you to string it up low with a soft poly string such as the Solinco Tour Bite Soft
, a Luxilon 4G soft
, or a Weisscannon Silverstring. All of them are great strings. And if you want to check out other, more control oriented, racquets in the Wilson Countervail series, I would have a look at the Wilson Blade with Countervail (click for review) – an excellent choice for players who can supply their own power.
Kei Nishikori’s racquet specs
Head Size: 95sq in
Swing weight: 350
Grip size: L3 (4 3/8
Length:27.7 in. / 70.4 cm
Strung weight:12.2 oz. / 346 gr
Strung balance:335 mm
The pics below are from Nishikori’s actual racquet, which you can buy from the website prostocktennis.com (if it’s still there!)
His string of choice is Luxilon 4G
which he strings quite low as you can see in the picture above!
Buy Nishikori’s Gear at Tennis Express.
Both the Wilson Burn 95
and the BLX Tour are stiff racquets that play fast, so I would recommend a softer string or a hybrid for players who want to emulate Nishikori’s specs. It’s also good to point out the extended length, which requires some getting used to if you’re not already using extended frames.
The specs of the Wilson BLX Tour Limited
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9 comments
Isn ‘t the Blx tour pl, more round in the troat and shaft area? Also it has larger than 95inch hitting area i think.
Maybe Kei plays with a wilson pro stock like many of the Wilson ATP players?
Hi Ron,
From what I know I’m pretty sure it’s the BLX Tour Limited. Below are the specs.
Lots of Wilson pro’s are using H19 and H22, but Nishikori should be using the BLX Tour.
Cheers / Jonas
Technical Specifications
Length 27.5 inches 69.85 centimeters
Head Size 95 square inches 613 square centimeters
Weight 11.1 ounces 315 grams
Balance Point 13.5 inches
34 centimeters 2pts Head Light
Construction 24mm / 25mm / 25mm
Composition Karophite Black / Basalt
String Pattern 16 Mains / 20 Crosses
Babolat RDC Ratings
Score
Grade
Flex Rating 73 Range: 0-100
Swing Weight 345 Range: 200-400
Hi. I just Saw him play in Washington DC but he had a different cosmetic. More brown gold then the usual burn look. Kyle Edmund played a different one too. What’s happening?
Greetings Luis
Hi Luis,
It seems like they have launched Camo for all their light editions so: Pro Staff, Burn, Blade and Ultra but for L and UL. My guess is that they want to target kids/juniors. Cheers / Jonas
Did he change his racquet in 2019? At Brisbane, he played with that it looked liked a Wilson Ultra
Hi Laurean,
No, it is his old racquet, but with the new Ultra Tour 95 paint job. So he is not endorsing Burn anymore, but the Ultra line. But it is still his old nTour 95. Cheers / Jonas
“If you have a bit of a sensitive elbow, I would recommend you to string it up low with a soft poly string”
Sorry but I disagree, Keep right away from all polys and co-polys, Use multi or natural gut
I see your point, but most people want to use polys. I should have written “soft string” instead.
There seems to be a consensus on Talk Tennis that Nishikori is using the Wilson nCode nTour 95. Is there something you know that they don’t? The nCode has a stiffness in the low 60s so they are two very different racquets. Would be interesting to know which he is using for sure.