Babolat Pure Aero Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 87

Power and spin were a given when picking up the Pure Aero, but our team got excited about the new levels of stability, plow through and comfort. Chris said, "This Pure Aero is a great racquet for trading groundstrokes. The same easy access to power and spin was there, further cementing the Aero family tradition. Our playtest racquets swung a little heavier than the previous AeroPro Drive, but the adjustment between the two was easy. Players familiar with the AeroPro Drive GT will find this racquet a closer match-up since the swingweights felt very similar. However, this version felt slightly more dampened. I thought comfort was improved a tad, and the stringbed seemed to pocket the ball better. The elongated grommets are designed to allow the main strings to move more, and it felt like they were working. Compared to the last AeroPro Drive, the Pure Aero offered me a tad more plow through. I liked this racquet even more when I was transitioning from defense to offense because I found such easy access to depth and pace. The Pure Aero still felt very maneuverable, so I was easily able to generate spin and find great angles."

Michelle's taste in racquets has changed slightly since the last version of the AeroPro Drive debuted, and now she enjoys swinging racquets that have a bit more plow through. She said, "I found this racquet to feel a little beefier than previous AeroPro Drives, and I felt like I was hitting heavier balls that penetrated the court more significantly. It was super easy to swing the previous version and generate topspin, but I would lose a lot of control. With this racquet I felt like I had more controlled power. Also, the Pure Aero felt a bit softer, which was a nice addition, and I could crank up the string tension into the high 50s without hurting my arm. Power and spin were easy to produce, and I never felt like the racquet was slow or lagging. I appreciated the added mass in the tip since I could swing big and produce some tough balls for my opponents. I definitely could use this racquet to pull my opponent off the court and then put balls away to the open court. I also found myself moving forward often to take advantage of the short balls I created. I had no complaints off the ground with the Pure Aero."

"This line of racquets continues to be one of my favorites for banging from the baseline," said Andy. "Just like previous versions, it's super forgiving and allows me to take huge cuts at the ball without fear of mis-hitting. The power and spin potential has been enhanced with a more open string pattern in the center of the racquet, along with what seemed like significantly more weight toward the tip of the frame. It took a little more effort to get the racquet moving, but once it was moving this Pure Aero helped deliver explosive power and spin on every groundstroke. I did find a little less control than I had with previous versions, although once I felt confident letting the tip of the racquet go through the contact point the enormous spin potential of the Pure Aero helped corral some errant shots."

The ease of spin and power from the baseline really set this racquet apart for Marco. He explained, "I found that I got more spin on my backhand, which is typically a very flat shot for me. On the forehand side the Pure Aero was maneuverable and whippy, so I often found myself using the buggy whip forehand to generate massive spin."

Volleys - Score: 82

Our playtesters appreciated the maneuverability and ease of use they found from the Pure Aero at the net. Michelle thought the Pure Aero was really simple to volley with. She said, "The Pure Aero was maneuverable up there so I could quickly block back big shots and dish them back out deep into the court. With this racquet, I could carve out nice angles and pick up balls at my shoelaces."

Just like past iterations, Andy felt this racquet offered 'point-and-shoot' accuracy up at the net. He explained, "Just get it in place and let it do the work for you. I thought the more open sweetspot and heftier hoop provided more forgiveness on off-center hits and made the Pure Aero more stable at contact. The feel of this version is also a little softer and more 'traditional' than previous versions. Control was better, and volleys that required more finesse and touch were easier to hit. Depth was easy to come by as well, leaving me without much to complain about for my net game."

Marco really enjoyed the added swingweight compared to the previous version up at net. He stated, "I could comfortably stick volleys with this racquet. Touch on volleys was harder to come by, but it was still easy to maneuver this racquet into position, which was great on volleys and overheads."

Chris enjoyed this racquet at net as well. He noted, "I played many sets of doubles with the Pure Aero and always felt well connected to my volleys. There was ample power to punch volleys away, and the Pure Aero offers a more solid response than the AeroPro Drive it replaces. I liked how I could soften my grip for added touch without worrying about the racquet twisting in my hand. Access to spin was easy, and I found I could add ample slice to my volleys when cupping under the ball."

Serves - Score: 91

Loaded with massive amounts of power and spin, the Pure Aero helped all of our playtesters take their service games to the next level. Andy was serving at his best, saying, "The explosive power (with control) enabled me to go after big flat first serves with heightened confidence, while the massive spin potential got my kick serves jumping off the court like never before. I was getting more free points than usual, which made my service games noticeably easier to win. With even more power and spin than the previous versions this is easily one of my favorite racquets to serve with, period!"

Serving was Marco's favorite thing to do with this racquet and the Pure Aero made his big lefty serves even harder to return. He commented, "I could dial in the ball to specific corners and spots more than with any other racquet I've played with. The nice part was that when I wanted to add pace it didn't compromise my ability to get the ball landing on target."

"This is where a racquet like the Pure Aero really helps my game," said Chris. "I get very little racquet drop on my backswing due to an old rotator cuff shoulder injury, so the power I got from this racquet was very welcome. I really enjoyed the power I was getting, and my serve speed was very close to what I get from the Pure Drive Plus. I was getting lots of spin, and that enabled me to serve aggressively on both first and second serves. I felt like I was serving to the best of my ability with this racquet. When I paired the Pure Aero with a co-poly like Prince Tour XC, which we had it strung with, I was able to get great control and spin."

Michelle took this racquet out with the AeroPro Drive and her Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph for serving practice and found that the Pure Aero offered her the most power and spin. She explained, "The Pure Aero was actually producing the fastest serves for me. I hit a few at 108 mph, but it didn't stop there. I really enjoyed some good movement as well. I was hitting heavy second serves that were still coming in pretty hard and getting up and out of my opponent's strike zone."

Returns - Score: 82

For the most part, our team continued to rave about the Pure Aero when it came to returning serves. This racquet worked for Chris because of the power, and with the right string choice he added control and spin to help keep everything within the lines. He said, "The Pure Aero also felt fast, yet solid. I found myself quickly stepping in and confidently taking a good cut at the ball. On more defensive returns the racquet gave me a solid enough response to punch or chip the ball back with depth. Modern player's racquets like this Pure Aero have definitely opened up some options for me on returns."

"While some people may love super fast racquets, I appreciate trading a bit of that for some extra stability and plow through when hitting my returns," began Michelle. "I liked how I could easily tap into my defensive or offensive game depending on what was served at me. I could get around the ball fast and hit heavy penetrating returns off slower second serves, but I could also block balls back that were hit right into my body or got me pulled off the court. The stability of this racquet shone through, and I never really noticed any twisting. The sweetspot also felt generous, and if I missed the sweetspot it didn't feel uncomfortable. Plus, if I didn't quite find the right spot on the stringbed it wasn't detrimental. If anything, I needed to reel in some power when attacking returns, but I found the most control when stringing this racquet up in the high 50s."

Returning was a bit more of a challenge for Marco, who said, "I couldn't get a consistent feel for the ball and found off-center returns tough to control. When I was timing the ball well my returns felt great, but I would've liked a bit more forgiveness so that I could return more consistently."

Andy continued to find this racquet easy to use from every area of the court. He offered, "The forgiveness and spin potential almost compels you to slug your returns aggressively, no matter how big the serve is. The added heft in the hoop makes it even more solid and stable when just chipping back returns, allowing for easy depth. With all that power in my hands there were times when it was a little difficult to harness, so precision suffered a bit at times."

Overall - Score: 88