There have been plenty of rumors and talk about the launch of Wilson Pro Labs Racquets. I haven’t heard anything from Wilson officially, but…
Today I was sent a link from a fellow Tennisnerd, showcasing the Wilson Pro Staff Six One 95 Pro Labs version. The beloved Six One 95 is back and in a glossy black paint that many pros are using now at the French Open 2020. A couple of pros sporting this paint job: Dan Evans, Dusan Lajovic, Philipp Kohlschreiber. But the Pro Staff Six One 95 is not the only one of the Wilson Pro Labs racquets, there are also Pro Blade 98 and Pro Ultra Pro (hmm) versions. Let’s have a look at the specs and some pics below.
Check out the family of Wilson Pro Labs Racquets on Wilson’s official website. Each frame is 249 USD.
Wilson Pro Labs Racquets – Six One 95
A favorite of advanced and professional players for the past two decades, the Pro Staff Six.One (18×20) carries a one-two punch of sleek design and intimidating performance to the court. Crafted for experienced players who hit the sweet spot with consistency, this frame sports a small head size, heavy static weight and significant head-light balance for an awesome combination of precision, power and stability.
| Head Size | 95 sq in |
| String Pattern | 18×20 |
| Unstrung Balance | 30.5CM/12 Pts HL |
| Series | Pro Staff |
| Unstrung Weight | 332 g |
| Length | 68.58 cm |
Buy the Wilson Pro Staff Six One 95 Pro Labs version here.
Wilson Blade 98 Pro Labs
The most popular Blade frame is now available in a glossy Pro Stock version, the Blade Pro (16×19). Sporting a boxier beam for an excellent mix of stability and feel, this racket features a light stock weight that enables users to easily customize and add weight for more power, if desired.
This is supposed to be the famous Wilson H22 pro stock mold, but is it really? I think they could do more to explain what is different (besides the obvious paint job) from the Pro Labs Blade 98 and the regular Blade. The beam is thicker, yes, by 0.5 mm and it sure looks like an H22. If you don’t know much about Wilson pro stocks, you will be confused, but for most tennis nerds, they will know the H22 when they see it. Releasing their most famous pro stocks to the world is a smart move by Wilson that I (and many other nerds) have been wanting to see for a long time. Let’s hope HEAD and other brands follow.
| Cross Section | 21.5MM Flat Beam |
| Head Size | 98 sq in |
| String Pattern | 16×19 |
| Unstrung Balance | 32.5CM/6 Pts HL |
| Series | Blade |
| Unstrung Weight | 305 g |
| Length | 27 in – 68.6 cm |
You can get the Wilson Pro Labs Blade 98 in 18×20 and 16×19 string pattern.
Check the Wilson Pro Labs Blade 98 on the Wilson official website.
Wilson Ultra Pro Labs
The Wilson Ultra Pro mold is the famous Wilson H19 pro stock, used by pros like Gael Monfils. The beauty of the Pro Labs version is that you can now also get it in a 16×19 string pattern (in addition to the standard 18×20, which I review here). Something a lot of players have requested. Check out the 16×19 version of the Wilson Ultra Pro here.
The Ultra Pro (16×19) features a very similar frame to the previously-introduced Ultra Pro (18×20), but with an open string pattern that generates power and spin more easily. Boasting a significant head-light balance alongside an ultra-thin beam, this racket is perfect for skilled, experienced players seeking maximum accuracy and excellent feel for every ball.
| Cross Section | 20.6 FB |
| Head Size | 97 sq in |
| String Pattern | 16×19 |
| Unstrung Balance | 31.5CM/9 Pts HL |
| Series | Ultra |
| Unstrung Weight | 305 g |
| Length | 27 in – 68.6 cm |
26 comments
do we know the stiffness?
Do you think it is going to be released in EU as well?
This is potentially bery interesting for me. I sold my Ultra Tours > 2 years ago, and I told Wilson that I’d be interested in a 16×19 version, but they responded that they had no plans to offer that. Is this the same frame but with 16×19?
It would have been great a six one 95 but 16×18
I think they should offer both patterns, yes.
Do you think you’ll be able to playtest these? Would love to hear the reviews on the ulta 16×19.
Hopefully head will release a PT57 16X19 to compete with Wilson.
I hope so! And I also hope that HEAD follows this idea…
And where to buy them in Sweden……?
Investigating…
What do you think the playability of the Blade Pro Lab version would be like compared to the current V7 versions of the Blade? Much different?
Regards
Ingen shipping till Sverige, tror du att dem kommer att lösa det? Skandal annars…
Har mejlat dem om det! Håller tummarna.
It’s hard to tell if this is a ‘remaining stock new paint-job marketing’, or actually a superior level of rackets. If it was the latter, Wilson should at least state something about the quality control like +/- 2g, since the usual +/- 7g is not acceptable for a ‘Pro’ racket. Going through the frames we have:
(i) The Six-One 95 appears to be the same, which is still a great racket, but you’re paying >$100 for a nice paint job.
(ii) The ‘Pro-Ultra-Pro’ 18×20 as you noted, appears to just be the Ultra-Pro, because the integrated PWS channels are still there.
(iii) However the ‘Pro-Ultra-Pro’ 16×19 does not seem to have the PWS channels, and they say the frame is ‘similar’ but not therefore necessarily identical so the question is is it an old Ultra Tour with 16×19 drilling, or is it a H19? The former would be very interesting as the current Ultra Tour/Pro plays well with just a little weighting. The latter would require significant weighting since the flex of the H19 is very low stock.
(iv) The Blade-Pros are quite different with a 21.5mm beam versus 20.6 of current Blade 98s, and the beam is more boxy. This could be the H22 55RA frame, but it would be worth checking the history of consumer frames to see if any other 21.5mm 98s exist? Similar to the Ultra, this would probably need significant increased weighting to get any power going.
So the Pro-Ultra-Pro 16×19 and either of the Blade-Pros are definitely worth getting a look at if possible.
…and as an example of how racquet choice might influence a player’s results, enter Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia. She is ranked 161 and lost her previous 12 slam matches. She is on the comeback trail from a knee surgery. Previously she was playing with something painted as a Steam 99 (I have no idea what was underneath the paint), but now is playing with something that looks like the Six One 95 shown here. In the first round she sent Venus home in 2 sets, and in the second round did the same to US Open finalist Azarenka. I don’t know what other changes have been made in her coaching team etc. Perhaps a little more control from her frame is helping too?
Do u intend to demo and review the wilson blade pro 98 ( pro lab version )???
I would love oto know how it compares to a standard 98 v7 version before splashing out £300!
Kind regards
Kevin
Hi Kevin,
I hope so! We will see if I can get a hold of one.
Schmiedlovas racket still has a 16×20 stringed as far as I can tell from yesterday’s pictures, meaning the Steam 96 is still hiding under the latest paintjob. They’d probably give you a Pro Staff v13 paintjob on a Head Ti6 if you were on TV enough.
I stand corrected – it’s not the racquet and hence does not lend support to the hobby of racquetology! As you seem to know more about Schmiedlova’s situation, has there been a change of coaching or otherwise that would explain these dramatically different results?
As I’m sure you know Pros very rarely change rackets because it can take over a year to get used to a new one. Schmiedlova seems typical of this year’s tournament with loads of seeds disappearing, probably because of the long Covid lay off and the unusual conditions for clay this year. Tennis is very much a form game but not many have been Abel to play at a consistently high level in the last 6 months.
Would be interesting to see the difference between the Blade 98 Pro to the V7. A friend who buys alot of pro-stock sticks said the Blade 98 v7 actually felt just like a pro-stock and it was so good he was going to stop buying the pros. Given the discount code the p[rice for the Pro actually comes in cheaper than the v7 so it would have been good to have access to demo these pro labs.
Hi! It has been almost a month since the Blade Pro has been out there and as a tennis racquet enthusiast I’m really surprised that you’re not all over this and haven’t already found a way to play test and review it, as it plays so much better than the Blade v7, and as in my opinion it’s such a significant milestone… Are you planning to actually review it any time soon ? Thx…
Hi Seb,
I am waiting for Wilson, I didn’t find a way to order it to Malta.
I should hopefully receive a demo soon. Cheers / J
Hi Jonas and fellow TennisNerds
I have read on TW forums that this version of the 6.1 95 is suppose to be based on the HyperPro Staff Mold. (https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/wilson-pro-stock-line.678740/page-29). They were barely any reviews of it yet. (except one in italian: https://tennistaste.com/wilson-pro-staff-six-one-95-18×20-pro-lab or some quick informal ones here : https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/2020-wilson-pro-staff-6-1-18×20-official-thread.680516/page-7)
I am currently playing and immensely enjoying the (affordable!) and currently available (so called 2017 edition I guess) 6.1 95 that I began playing with this summer in part because of your ‘propaganda’ ;) . It has had tremendous impact on my enjoyment and my improvement as a player.
I’m considering buying myself a second one (and a third one ?) for Christmas so that I can look forward to starting playing tournaments ‘seriously’ with it next summer. The question is: what is this Pro Lab version really worth ? (except for the classy paintjob). I’m attracted to it but is this 250 bucks it a better one than the 100 bucks option? I can guess you have had some curiosity on the matter too
For record’s sake : I’ve played my 6.1 today with Head Lynx Tour at 23/22 kg (although imho color is not as beautiful as say the georgous bronze Luxilon Element, very minor factor though lol)and it was really a DELIGHT. Open to suggestion though. So much so that I just spent an hour going on a 6.1 95 internet binge. I’m sure you guys get the feeling.
Anyways…
Thought I’d share. Thanks for your work! And cheers to the community. Hope we will know more about it soon. And is there a TennisNerd playtest of the Pro Labs series in sight ?
Have a great evening
Antoine
this must be Evans version still making it for him, Opelka and Agut? Delpo retired etc
Utk hallen Uppsala säljer ProLabs Ultra pro i 16×19 och 18×20 och 6.1.95 v13. Pris är lite högre än på Wilsons sida dock.
Hade haft svårt att inte köpa en 6.1 95