Andy Roddick needs a new racquet

He announced it on Twitter yesterday, and I people started @-ing me in the comments. Andy Roddick needs a new racquet, but what?

Some might say, “So what?” to the statement that Andy Roddick needs a new racquet and that’s fine. But many tennis players are curious about racquets in general and specifically pro-player racquets. You can get a lot more info on the topic in the Tennisnerd Guide to Racquet and Strings, which is a free resource with loads of links to articles and information about topics such as racquets, strings, bags, and shoes. But back to Andy now.

This was the posted tweet:

By the way, check out Andy’s podcast “Served”. It’s great. I cheekily invited him on to my podcast, since I would love to talk to him about tennis and his career in general, and not only racquets. I doubt he will get back to me, but I hope to get more players and ex-players to talk tennis on the pod. Thanks, by the way, to all of you who tweeted at Andy and messaged me. I really appreciate the confidence.

Andy Roddick’s racquet

So, what racquet did Andy Roddick use during his career? To remind you, Roddick was a world number one, a Grand Slam winner, and won 32 titles before he retired in 2012. There would likely be many more titles if not for a certain player named Roger Federer (but of course also Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic).

Roddick was famous for his big serve and forehand, as well as his fighting instinct. Despite being a Federer fan, it was difficult not be heartbroken for him when he lost that epic 2009 Wimbledon final, 14-16 in the fifth set.

Andy used a Babolat Pure Drive Plus (extended length) with painted Cortex tech, meaning it was an early-generation Pure Drive. Cortex came around 2006, if I am not mistaken, so I would guess he used a Pure Drive Team Plus (2003), but difficult to know for sure.

Roddick added lead to the sides at 3 and 9, used a grip 4 and a string combination of Babolat Hurricane Tour 1.30 in the mains and Babolat VS Touch Natural 1.30 gut in the crosses. A sticker from one of his racquets reads 63, as in 63 lbs! Jannik Sinner style tension.

I don’t know what the specs of Roddick’s racquet were. He did have a signature model called the Babolat Pure Drive Roddick for a few years, but Babolat discontinued it when he retired.

What racquet should Roddick use today?

Someone wanted to suggest a new Pure Drive or Pure Aero, which would make sense, but Roddick quickly replied that he wasn’t interested in a Babolat. He did black out his racquets when he retired, so I don’t think he had any post-career deal with the French brand.

It would be a big transition to go to a standard-length racquet after all this time, so we need to look at longer racquets. This leads me to the following suggestions:

Yonex Ezone 100 Plus
The Ezone is one of the most popular power racquets on the market for a reason. Good power, a denser pattern for control and the dampening helps protect the arm. Yonex also offers the VCORE 100 Plus, but that is very lively racquet with some trampolining in the string bed and I’m not sure Andy would be into that.

Solinco Blackout XTD
The Solinco Blackout XTD is a racquet even closer in feel and performance to the old Pure Drives than the Ezone. Alongside the Diadem Nova Plus, I think it’s a racquet that will feel right at home for Andy.

Diadem Nova V3 Plus
The new Nova racquets from American Diadem are excellent. It has good dampening, decent control for a power frame, and ample spin potential. You can check out our Diadem Nova V3 Review. Ps. Use the code TENNISNERD15 to get 15% off Ds.

Wilson Blade 104 V9
The Blade 104 is a bit of a hidden gem. Yes, this will not give quite the power of the power racquets above, but a nice, comfortable feel and excellent forgiveness thanks to the 104 sq inch head size. I know some ex ATP players that like this racquet with some weight added at 3 and 9.

Summary

Any of these suggestions will feel at home and be an easy-enough-racquet to transition to from the Pure Drives. They might require some customization to get them up to the specification Andy is used to, but if he wants to play slightly lighter now that he is not on the court as much, they can also be played stock.

I wish Andy the best of luck in his racquet search and his new career as a podcaster. He also recently helped Coco Gauff with her serve, so I am sure we will see him around the tennis tour a lot in the coming years.

Do you have any other ideas of racquets that Andy Roddick might like?