What racquet is Rune using?

by Jonas Eriksson
holger rune

Holger Rune has just defeated Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-2 in the Munich ATP 250. But what racquet is Rune using?

The young Dane is showing some impressive improvement as he beats his first top 5 player in his career. He found his a-game, while Zverev seemed to struggle. Still, all props should go to Rune who played a great match. As you might know, few pro players play with the racquets you think they would. But in the case of two young stars, Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune, they are actually using the Babolat Pure Aero 98. Yes, the current one.

The Babolat Pure Aero VS will likely be a modern classic when you look at the potential of Rune but most of all, Alcaraz. The Spaniard is already top ten, while Rune is ranked at #70. That will surely rise shortly, because the dane has got game.

Holger Rune’s racquet specs

Holger did reply to us on Instagram a while back when we asked him about his racquet. It remains the same weight and balance as when he used the Pure Drive, but now in a Pure Aero 98.

As you can see in VamosWatanabe’s pic from Instagram (taken at Wimbledon 2024), the unstrung specifications are 317g, 31.9 cm and 305 SW unstrung. This leads to strung specs with over grip around 342g, 32.5 cm, and 335 swing weight.

What makes the Babolat Pure Aero 98 so good?

Both Rune and Alcaraz came from a more powerful 100 sq inch racquet. Alcaraz used some version of the Pure Aero and Rune used some version of the Pure Drive. With those frames you get power, spin and forgiveness, but the control is lacking compared to the 98 sq inch head size and 16×20 string pattern of the Aero VS.

This racquet suits whippy forehands like Auger-Aliassime (uses a previous version) and Rune and Alcaraz. They don’t need so much mass to create massive spin and power on their shots.

I would be surprised if the Aero VS is not selling well at Tennis Warehouse, Tennis Warehouse Europe (seems to be sold out!) and Tennis Only.

Regarding strings, both Alcaraz and Rune are using Babolat RPM Blast. I don’t know Rune’s tension. Alcaraz uses 1.30 at 55 lbs in the mains and 53 lbs in the crosses (sometimes 51 lbs).

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2 comments

Erball May 3, 2022 - 16:56

Hi Jonas,
in Turin at the Next Gen Finals the tension was 24.5 Kg for the 1st raquet and 24 Kg for the rest.

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Erball May 3, 2022 - 17:04

…sorry in Milano (in Turin maybe next year :-)

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