It’s time to play a game.
What racquet is 14-time grand slam champion Pete Sampras holding in the picture?
As you might know, Sampras played a heavily leaded-upย Wilson Pro Staff 85 (St Vincent) for most of his career, but the above pic is clearly not that racquet!
Blade 93, heavily leaded. Though it’s actually the string that puzzles me even more..
It is a blacked-out and heavily leaded Babolat Pure Storm tour limited. (From “reliable” sources :) )
Sorry, but no
The Ltd is a 95 sq.i. with an 18×20 string pattern, Pete never played with tight string patterns like the Ltd has
The word out there on TW is that he plays with a blacked out and weighted up Pure Storm GT, meaning a 98 sq.i. frame with 16×20 string pattern
Just look at some of the early pics from Sampras with his new bab, and count the strings
You can confirm this here https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/sampras-goes-to-babolat-pics-incl.329303/
Keep up the good work
It actually appears to be the Pure Storm Tour “according to his personal racquet customizer and stringer, Nate Ferguson.” https://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2010/09/mailbag-pistol-petes-new-pure-storm/38760/
Yes, you are right. I recently published a classic racquet review of that frame. Video to come.