Victoria Azarenka has just returned to tour after maternity leave and is now playing Mallorca Open. She is playing with a blacked-out racquet instead of her Wilson Ultra 100. What is it?
Azarenka’s racquet before Mallorca Open was the Wilson Ultra 100
(which, by the way, in her case was a pro stock racquet model called the H25 based on HEAD’s Instinct
racquet line) and now it looks suspiciously like a Yonex DR 98. Has she made the switch during her break from tennis? Is it sponsor squabbles or just her own personal taste that’s changed?
Wilson Ultra is about to get an overhaul with the addition of Countervail, similar to the Wilson Burn Countervail and the Blade Countervail. This image is from poster dgoran on the tennis warehouse forum:
What do you think of the Wilson Ultra Countervail design? Peter Figasinski has been involved in the design of this racquet and it follows the nice and clean style of the other Countervail racquets from Wilson, but with the Ultra blue colour.
There has been rumours about releasing the Wilson pro stock version of the prestige, the H19, in the Ultra line-up, but I personally doubt it. The Wilson pro stocks H19, H22, and H25 etc will likely remain pro stock racquets. This is the same with the HEAD pro stocks PT57A/E, TGK, etc, it is a dream of racquet aficionados to be able to buy them from a retailer, but I don’t think it would boost sales enough for it to be a good idea for the company as it is still quite a niche group. Maybe they could launch the Wilson pro room shop and sell the pro stock models ready customized for a hefty price tag like HEAD try to do with their HEAD Custom Made racquets (I don’t think that was a big success for HEAD).
Would you pay 499 USD for a ready-customized (your specs) pro stock racquet or would you prefer to buy it “raw” and do the customization yourself? What would be a suitable price tag for such a setup? Please comment!
Azarenka is using Luxilon Big Banger strings
.
13 comments
tennisnerd, do u think the racket in the picture is really an ultra? for me looks like more an H19 with the ultra paint job. Maybe the ll realease this paintjob endorsed by gael monfils
Hi Guilherme,
The talk on the forums has been to release a commercial version of the H19, but I doubt it. The Wilson pro stocks H19, H22, and H25 etc will likely remain pro stock racquets. This is the same with the HEAD pro stocks PT57A/E, TGK, etc, it is a dream of racquet lovers to be able to buy them from a retailer, but I don’t think it would boost sales enough for it to be a good idea for the company and it would also be a little like: “Hey, we’ve fooled you all along, but now we’ve come clean.” An almost unheard of corporate strategy! :)
But I’m curious about the Ultra specs myself! Watch this space!
Cheers / Jonas
I was involved :)
Good job! Looks great, Peter. Will be interesting to see the specs as the Ultra have been quite an underrated line with really decent playing racquets.
I do not quite understand the article; is the H25 a Head pro stock based on the Instinct (surely Wilson is not making racquets based on the Instinct) or is it a Wilson pro stock?
I really like the paint job on this ultra in the picture (better than the confusingly nearly identical Burn & Pro Staff lines), but my understanding of the ultra line and the juice that preceded it was that it was Wilson’s attempt to make a babolat, just like the pro strike was babolat’s attempt to make a blade. Babolat racquets somehow just don’t work for me, and when I demo’d a juice it did not either, so I’m not holding my breath for this ultra.
Sorry, maybe I was unclear. The Wilson H25 is a Wilson pro stock based on the HEAD Instinct mould. When you want tennis professionals to move over to your brand you might have to give them something they’re used to so Wilson has copied a few legendary HEAD racquets.
I think many agree that the Juice was a little bit like a failed Babolat, but the Ultra is different so will be interesting to try…
Cheers / Jonas
German tennis magazine talking about Michael Joyce carrying a blue Yonex bag:
http://www.tennismagazin.de/kurz-cross/mail-aus-mallorca-azarenka-gelingt-mentalitaetssieg/
Does anybody know the release day for the new Wilson Ultras? Thanks!
Not yet, but will try to find out! Cheers / J
Is the paint job going to be Matt or glossy on the new ultras??? Thanks
Hi Mauro, don’t know yet. But my guess would be matte. Cheers /J
She showed up at Wimbledon carrying a Yonex bag and a blacked out Isometric head with Yonex stencil.
Interesting! Thanks for the comment!