The off-season is in full flow and pics are coming out of players testing new racquets. But what about Holger Rune’s new racquet? We talk about some other pro player racquet experiments on our YouTube channel.
Is Holger Rune’s new racquet really a Pure Strike or his old racquet painted to look like a Pure Strike? One way to get clues is to count the strings. Holger Rune’s racquet is 16×20 as in the Babolat Pure Aero VS or the more recent Aero 98 (check out our Babolat Pure Aero 98 Review), but if the racquet in the pics is 16×20, it can also be one of the New Pure Strikes that are set to be released in January, 2024.
The brands don’t want any information leaked about upcoming launches, understandably, but when the players are seen hitting with their new racquets (cosmetics), it is difficult to put the lid on what is about to be brought to the market.
Read this post if you want to know more about the new racquet releases in 2024.
I have heard from sources near Holger that he is just testing the racquet. It is quite obvious that Babolat needs an ambassador for the Strike line now that Thiem has fallen in the rankings (he is slowly climbing his way back up though, it seems) and Rune would be a fantastic choice with his aggressive playing style and bright future in the game.
Would the Babolat Pure Strike be right for Rune’s game?
Yes, the Babolat Pure Strike is a good choice. Rune is an attacker, and the Pure Strike gives you power, but with better directional control than the Aero 98, which has a higher launch angle and is more focused on spin. Rune hits his shot more through the court than, for example, Carlos Alcaraz, who uses the Aero 98.
So a tad more control could free Rune up a bit more and prevent errors. The racquet is still powerful enough for the modern game and should compliment Rune’s aggressive forehand beautifully.
But even if the racquet sounds great for Rune on paper, it is obviously a big change as he has had a fast rise in the rankings with his current racquet. We will see when Australian swing starts if he has made the switch or not.
What do you think about Holger Rune’s new racquet? Will it become reality or just a testing phase?
2 comments
Another way to tell that it is not his old Aero VS (nor Aero 98) under a strike paint job is that these Aero racquets (even the VS & 98) have a very distinctive shaped Aero throat (kind of fat and flattened and splaying at a telltale angle) that are easy to spot.
This is clearly not an Aero throat
Pure strike 98 16×19 in that picture. Not 16×20. Just a pure strike 98 16×19
More control for him. That 16×19 is dense .