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Rafa’s New Racquet Paint

by TN

What racquet is Rafa using in Rome? I have gotten that question a few times and here is my answer around Rafa’s new racquet paint.

Nadal is tearing up his opponents in Rome in “good old gluten style” (bagels and breadsticks). He has not lost a step or his desire to win during this prolonged COVID break from tennis. But in Rome, he has been using a new paint job, which I posted about on my Instagram page. It’s the Babolat Pure Aero paint with some added orange and purple. As far as I understand, Rafa has been a part of incorporating colors that mean something to him. And it does look more aggressive, similar to the La Decima paint job (which is my personal favorite). But what is this version of Rafa’s new racquet?

Rafa’s new racquet is still his Babolat Aero Pro Drive Original from 2005, although he has tweaked the weight and customization over the years. His racquet has loads of lead tape at 12 o’clock for a swing weight that few club players would be able to use effectively. If you didn’t know this already, most pros have their racquets customized to increase the swing weight, weight and plowthrough of their racquets. They often use the racquets they have since they started on tour and their racquet sponsor sends them racquets with a new paint job to reflect the latest commercial model. This is called a pro stock racquet.  There is no magic involved in these racquets, but if you have been hitting millions of shots with one racquet, it’s very difficult to switch.

Rafa’s new racquet paint – will it be sold?

Babolat is no longer the official tennis brand of Roland Garros. This year Wilson has the license and can sell Roland Garros-inspired racquets like the Wilson Blade 98 Roland Garros edition, which is one of my favorite paint jobs of all time (they recently released the Wilson Ultra 100 RG, which is also nice). This means that Babolat will not offer a French Open version of their Pure Aero like they did previously.

According to a person close to Babolat, will be sold in the beginning of 2021. This means you Nadal fans will have to wait a bit until you can swing this colorful-looking racquet.

What do you think of the paint? Si o No?

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13 comments

Teresa September 23, 2020 - 15:50 - 15:50

Thank you for this post because I too was wondering about the possibility of this new color of Pure Aero. I was hoping they would make it available after the French Open, and thus the holidays, but seems we will need to wait to 2021. I personally love the extra color/flare and it immediately caught my attention in Rome. Can’t wait to get a hold of this version.

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Tomas Gustafsson September 23, 2020 - 19:40 - 19:40

Si

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Mary September 30, 2020 - 13:51 - 13:51

Thanks for the insight! I have wanted to get my hands on this new color version of the Pure Areo since I first saw it in Rafa’s hands!

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Pimpim October 15, 2020 - 09:51 - 09:51

Could it anyways be an autograph version that is coming out in 2021? Like RF97, but RN Pure Aero.

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Tennisnerd October 16, 2020 - 10:18 - 10:18

I don’t think so, to be honest, my guess would be it’s a paint job. But an Autograph would be awesome.

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Tom December 9, 2020 - 14:12 - 14:12

Why not launch it already? why us make us wait till next year for this? everyone wants what nadal has already. not what he had the previous year..

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Pat February 13, 2021 - 23:42 - 23:42

I have just contacted Babolat by email and I was only informed that they had the latest VS racket coming out this year .

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Pat February 15, 2021 - 11:00 - 11:00

Babolat sent me the wrong information and have just emailed me to say that the Pure Aero Rafa will be released in March .

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Julius February 19, 2021 - 01:29 - 01:29

It’s a mistery to me how these companies work.
You would think they sponsor players to sell gear, but then they choose not to sell that gear. Am I missing something here?…
In Europe we have Eurosport and they only broadcast the Grand Slams. EVERY commercial break Tennis Point comes on and announces: “Get the outfit / gear of your favourite tennis player here!”
And EVERY year at every Grand Slam I check on their webstore if I can buy Rafa’s racquet, Stan’s short, or Federer’s shirt.
And they never ever sell these items!
Now I may not be a marketing professional, but you don’t need to be to understand that there is something wrong with this picture…?

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Billy McLaren February 19, 2021 - 18:06 - 18:06

If Rafa’s new racket is released in March, could anybody tell me which website to try and purchase one please.

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TN February 20, 2021 - 10:06 - 10:06

I heard April – it will be available pretty much everywhere. I would appreciate if you purchase it from our affiliate link and a small commission goes to Tennisnerd: https://www.tennis-warehouse.com?from=tennerd

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Billy McLaren March 12, 2021 - 15:30 - 15:30

If anybody is looking for Rafa’s new racket ‘Pure Aero Rafa’ it is now being sold at ‘Tennis point’. The grip sizes are limited at present, larger grips sold out. They only have grip size 3 and below.

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Alexander July 15, 2021 - 07:30 - 07:30

I’ve been looking EVERYWHERE for the unstrung weight on this, and but again, this text does now no longer proportion it. :,( Could you please constantly consist of the unstrung weight along side the strung weight? Some locations best display the unstrung weight…so if you’re evaluating rackets it makes it pretty tough while you best have one spec or the other!! Thanks!

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