I am working on my Gear of the Year 2023 post and video, but I’m now keen to hear from you. What are the best racquets of 2023?

What are the best racquets of 2023?

I am working on a The Best Racquets of 2023 video. This year, we saw many releases that were gradual improvements. These were the best racquets of 2022.

HEAD

HEAD focused on that with the Gravity, Radical and Prestige lines. The most standout launch from HEAD was the excellent Prestige Classic 2.0.

Wilson

Wilson had a big release in the Shift, which impressed us and most other play-testers, while the Pro Staff felt more like a safe bet.

Babolat

Babolat were gutsy in bringing out the Pure Aero Rafa Origin, which played like a tank and put a big smile on my face. While the regular Aero Rafa was a bit wild in the string bed but seems to work really well for spin players. The Babolat Pure Aero 98 was one of my favorite racquets of the year because it had addictive power but wasn’t uncontrollable. The Pure Drive 98 was nice, but a bit too stiff for the play-testers.

Yonex

Yonex went for big changes in their new Yonex VCORE racquets, but most play-testers felt the change was a bit much in terms of playability. The racquets were wild, with high and somewhat unpredictable launch angles. This starkly contrasted with the Percept racquets‘ predictability, which replaced the VCORE Pro as the Yonex control line. The mold was the same, but the racquets played with improved stability and power over their predecessors.

The Rest

Tecnifibre did not launch any updates to their racquets in 2023, while Dunlop’s power line, FX, improved with a softer and more responsive feel.

I might have missed some releases. I am just in the process of going through and summarizing the year. I’m keen to hear what you think.

What was your favorite racquet release in 2023?