Look at what’s out! A Wilson Blade 100 V7. It’s a Tennis Warehouse exclusive and something many players have been asking for.
The Wilson Blade 98 is a true player frame. Quite demanding, nice feel, smallish sweet spot, great control. But what happens if you add two sq inches to the frame to increase the size of the sweet spot and the forgiveness of the racquet? Well, you have to ask Tennis Warehouse, because based on popular demand, they have requested this racquet as a special from Wilson Tennis! You can check the Wilson Blade 100 V7 out on Tennis Warehouse.
The Wilson Blade 100 intrigues me. The Blade 98 is excellent, but I find it a bit too much for me at times. The 100 could be a happy medium where a player frame meets a “tweener” and ends up finding a good balance.
100 sq inch racquet most often have higher stiffness ratings and thicker beams, but that’s not the case with the Blade 100.
Wilson Blade 100 V7 Specs
| Head Size:100 in / 645.16 cm | ||||
| Length:27in / 68.58cm | ||||
| Strung Weight:11.2oz / 318g | ||||
| Balance:13.18in / 33.48cm / 3 pts HL | ||||
| Swingweight:329 | ||||
| Stiffness:62 | ||||
| Beam Width:22.5mm / 22.5mm / 22.5mm | ||||
| Composition:Braided Graphite/Basalt | ||||
| Power Level:Low-Medium | ||||
| Stroke Style:Medium-Full | ||||
| Swing Speed:Medium-Fast | ||||
| Racquet Colors:Black/Green/Silver | ||||
| Grip Type:Wilson Pro Performance | ||||
String Pattern:
|
||||
| String Tension:50-60 pounds |
The swing weight is still pretty beefy to make sure the frame remains stable and powerful despite the thinner beam and lower flex. Some players will enjoy that (I’m one of those players), while others might feel it’s a bit too much. Compared to racquets like the HEAD Instinct MP and the Yonex Ezone 98, the swing weight of this racquet is significantly higher, more similar to the ProKennex Ki Q+5 300.
Looking at the specs, I think this is yet another 100 sq inch racquet offering good arm comfort for players with a tendency towards tennis elbow, sore wrists, or a bad shoulder. Other 100 sq inch comfort frames:
Wilson Clash
Prince Phantom
ProKennex
Angell K7 Cyan
HEAD Gravity
I really think this is a step in the right direction. Forgiveness, some power, but maintaining the comfortable and plusher feel.
Wilson Blade 100 V7 Review?
Will I review this frame? I hope so. Since it’s a Tennis Warehouse exclusive, it might not be easy for me to get my hands on though. I live in Europe and get most of my demo racquets from Tennis Warehouse Europe. Sadly, they don’t stock this racquet at the moment and I need to resort to the Wilson Blade 100L, which is not quite the same.
Let’s hope that the Blade 100 becomes a big success and becomes available also outside the U.S…
I’m also keen to see if this racquet model will be included in the Wilson Blade V8 :)
If you get your hands on a Wilson Blade 100 V7 – please let me know how it plays below.
5 comments
And, I just sold all of my 18x 20 Blades V7 and bought the Clash 100 Pros. I wish that I would have known the Blade 100 was coming. Thanks for the update, I enjoy your reviews.
Thanks for this post and your great work for all of us tennisnerds! You don’t have any information when and if this racquet will be available in europe? Looking forward to this!
Here is the answer from Wilson Customer Service to my question when Blade 100 v7 will be available in Europe:
“We can confirm that the new blade V8 rackets are comming out around Septmeber 15th”
I don’t know what it means, really :) – Maybe there will be new Wilson BLade 100 v8 in the family.
I demoed the blade 100 in early July and loved it. I ordered one and have been playing it for the last 6 weeks. Before that I have been playing with a Pure Drive. Knowing it would have less power than the Pure Drive, I had it strung 2 lbs lighter than my typical setup (53 lbs, to make up for some power loss due to a flexible frame) with my favorite strings, Gamma Professional.
I really love this frame. It is less harsh on my arm and I have significantly more control with it. I also feel like I get more spin. The added control really gives me confidence with this frame. It feels quick, but still has enough heft to help return balls coming at me with pace. I have not noticed any loss in power over my Pure Drive. I think I t’s similar to the Clash, but more predictable. I’ve let a few friends try it and everyone seems to like it. I have at least one friend that wants to make the switch, but wants to wait and see if it will be offered in a v8 version. I am not sure why Wilson released this as a v7 so close to the v8 release. That might deter a lot of people. Hopefully this frame catches on and Wilson continues to offer it. I’m a 45 yr/old male that plays 1-2x/week at the 3.0 level.
Love this racket. I am a 3.5-4.0 player, one handed backhand and I rely on forehand and serve to play offensively. This has tons of pop and paired with a hyper-g allows heavy groundstrokes from the forehand side. Serve feels good too though it is a little slow through the air. Stability is good and slices work great with this racquet. It feels similar to babolat pure strike tour 16×19 but with that plush blade feeling, though the babolat has a little more spin. The strengths of this racquet: plenty of power, great forehands, very comfortable, good stability. The negatives, slow through the air, I shank my one handed backhand sometimes because of this, it’s also not a great volleying racquet for this reason. I would say the serve is average. For someone that loves to use their forehand to dominate and want more control than standard tweener racquets, this is great.