Babolat Pure Aero Tour Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 88

Thanks to a head light balance and aerodynamic beam, the Pure Aero Tour comes with a wonderfully fast and whippy feel, making it perfect for those who want the benefits of a heavier racquet without losing the easy acceleration that's crucial to spin and pace. Chris said, "I was immediately reminded of how much I enjoyed the Pure Drive Roddick, which I used for a couple of years. Like that racquet, this Pure Aero Tour offered excellent stability, great power, spin and enough plow through to handle heavy hitting. I enjoyed the solid response tremendously. Rarely did the racquet exhibit any flutter, and most of the time it felt rock solid. When coupled with a co-poly string this racquet offered a devastating combination of power, spin and control. All of my shots were firing nicely, and I felt very dialed in. Enough said."

This racquet provided Troy with loads of spin and a big sweetspot. He commented, "This racquet made it easy for me to hit with heavy spin. I got a lot of net clearance, and the tremendous spin potential of this racquet increased my consistency from the baseline. Although the Pure Aero Tour was great for hitting heavy spin, there were times when I found it difficult to gauge the depth of my shots when I was hitting flat. Compared to the previous versions of the AeroPro Drives, this new Pure Aero Tour felt more plush and dampened. I wouldn't say it's a soft racquet, but it's feel is noticeably more plush than previous iterations. This racquet had better stability and plow through than the standard Pure Aero, which is always a plus in my book."

Having always gravitated toward Pure Drive racquets over Aero racquets, Michelle didn't completely gel with the Pure Aero Tour from the baseline. She explained, "Maybe it's my flatter game paired with this spin-monster of a racquet, but I was lacking confidence and didn't feel completely connected to my shots. I liked the added mass compared to the standard Pure Aero, but the Pure Aero Tour felt a bit unforgiving and stiff. The first time I hit with it I struggled to find consistent depth and was on the defensive more, which is not how I like to play. I was able to make the adjustment to get my shots deeper and heavier, but I was never 100 percent sure my put away shots would land in, and that lack of confidence seeped into my game a bit. However, that could have been a between the ears issue more than an equipment issue. I did appreciate the power I could generate and found good stability when I was pulled wide. I was also able to get defensive balls deep into the court to help me extend points."

Mark has always played well with iterations of the AeroPro Drive. He said, "I had some pretty high expectations for this latest offering from Babolat. At the baseline, which is where I play most of my tennis, I was in control of the direction and destination of the ball within 20 minutes of hitting with this racquet. Although there were a few instances where I felt that my racquet head speed was a little sluggish, it was something I able to correct the more I swung the Pure Aero Tour."

Volleys - Score: 85

The added weight of the Pure Aero Tour really helped it shine for our playtesters at the net. Troy found a solid and stable feel, and it never felt too cumbersome. He said, "This racquet made it easy to for me to get good depth on my volleys. It has a softer and plusher feel (compared to previous versions). I found more response from this Babolat Pure Aero Tour, especially when I was hitting drop volleys and acute angles. The Pure Aero Tour wasn't scalpel-like (compared to my Wilson Six.One 95), but it did have a better response than the previous versions of AeroPro Drives."

"This was one of my favorite categories of this playtest," began Michelle. "I thought this racquet performed well at the net. The issues I had at the baseline didn't follow me to the net, and I felt very confident volleying with the Pure Aero Tour. It was easy to get my volleys deep, and I found plenty of maneuverable up there to block big balls back. Swinging volleys felt great and my overheads were good."

For Mark, the extra weight of the Pure Aero Tour made all the difference at net. He said, "Due to the fact that I am not getting any younger or faster, I often make contact with my first volley around the service line. With the Pure Aero Tour I was able to dig out that first volley effectively. I felt like I had an unfair advantage when I made contact with a volley anywhere inside the service line, and it was easy to control the point."

Chris also thought this was a great racquet to volley with. He added, "The Pure Aero Tour felt very solid, yet it was also easy to maneuver. I played a lot of doubles with this racquet and really enjoyed its response at net. I could find my targets consistently while also generating good pace. The feel was firm and crisp, yet never uncomfortable. For me, the additional weight made this a better volleying stick than the regular Pure Aero."

Serves - Score: 85

Aggressive servers who can get the Pure Aero Tour moving fast will be rewarded with lethal power and plenty of free points. After enjoying the Pure Aero Tour at net, Michelle felt this racquet was shaping up to be a great doubles racquet for her. She said, "My other favorite shot to hit with the Pure Aero Tour was the serve. I appreciated all the juice I could get out of this racquet when starting a point. Similar to my experience with the Pure Aero, I could really ramp up my speed. I was able to consistently hit 109 mph first serves, and because of the added mass with this racquet I felt like I was hitting a hard, heavy first serve. Second serves were also great, and I really could tap into the spin potential this racquet offers. This is the one spot of my game that benefits from the spin potential in a racquet. I could get the ball jumping off the court or into the body, which put me in a good position off a second serve."

As the Pure Aero Tour is weighted almost identically to his racquet of choice, Mark found his groove quickly on serve. He commented, "After four sets of doubles and a set of singles I had already decided that I could take the Pure Aero Tour through the finals of a tournament."

Chris also served well with this racquet. He said, "I served almost as well as I do with the Pure Drive Plus -- high praise considering the Pure Drive Plus is currently my favorite serving racquet. Access to spin was also impressive with the Pure Aero Tour. I liked adding a little topspin or slice to my first serves to buy some extra margin over the net. I wasn't giving up much, if any, pace, yet I was hitting a very consistent delivery. I also liked how the weight of this racquet helped me generate power from my abbreviated racquet drop (caused by an old shoulder injury that makes my back scratch position more of a neck scratcher). I found lots of spin on my second serves, so I could stay aggressive."

As it did when he was hitting his groundstrokes, the FSI Spin Technology helped Troy get added spin and kick on his serves. He continued, "With this more open string pattern my favorite serves to hit with the Pure Aero Tour were the can-opener (slice) and kick serves. I got good pop on flat serves - a few added MPHs compared to my Six.One 95, but not quite as much power as I got from the Pure Drive Tour Plus, which is the racquet that helped me hit my fastest recorded serve on our PlaySight SmartCourt. I enjoyed the added spin and power that I could get on my serves, but I did feel that I lost a bit of accuracy. Because my serves are effective due to their location rather than their power, there were times I was craving more accuracy from the Pure Aero Tour."

Returns - Score: 84

Our playtesters found it easy to drive the ball powerfully through the court when returning with the Pure Aero Tour. There was also plenty of spin to be had thanks to the maneuverability and open string pattern. This racquet's fast yet solid feel proved to be a perfect combo on returns for Chris, who said, "I was hitting my drive returns with lots of power and finding enough spin to keep everything under control. On block returns the racquet's stability helped me find depth and still get some MPHs behind the ball."

"What would life or tennis be without at least one challenge?' asked Mark. "Although this might be more on me than the racquet, when I stuck with my chip return I was in good shape, but I was challenged when I wanted to get over the top of the ball on my return of serve."

"A solid, stable feel and easy depth sum up how this racquet worked out for me on returns," stated Troy. "I enjoyed the stability the added weight of this racquet provided (compared to my experiences of returning serve with previous versions of the AeroPro Drive). I liked how, with little effort, I could get good depth on my returns and keep the server from coming into net early in the point. This racquet also felt stable on backhand slice returns, when I was trying to drive the ball deep and low at the server's feet. When I was returning in doubles I didn't quite find the precision that I am used to from racquets with smaller head sizes or denser string patterns. There were times when I didn't quite have the precision to keep my returns away from the net man, and this lowered my confidence level when trying to break serve in doubles."

This racquet proved to be a bit too powerful and unpredictable at times for Michelle's aggressive returns. She explained, "It was too easy for me to take a big swing and overhit, and I would have liked a bit more control. However, dipping returns were successful. I also liked the Pure Aero Tour on my defensive returns; I could block big serves back deep into the court."

Overall - Score: 86