Wilson Ultra 97 Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 81

All of our TW playtesters found attributes of the Ultra 97 that complemented their playing styles. This racquet had a feel that Chris wasn't expecting. He said, "I was surprised at how plush and comfortable this racquet felt from the baseline, and it offered some nice power and felt very maneuverable. Usually racquets offering those attributes come with some inherent firmness. This racquet was miles away from feeling firm. While it wasn't Triad comfy, I was definitely surprised by this racquet's dampened response. I still felt pretty connected to what was going on and enjoyed the response. Tracking my play on our PlaySight Smart Court confirmed my feelings. I was scoring above 80 percent consistency off both wings. My pace and spin were solid, but I was most happy with how consistently I played with this racquet."

For Andy, the control and maneuverability of the Ultra 97 stood out as highlights. He said, "I felt like I had great command over the ball and could consistently put it where I wanted. The Ultra 97 came around my body quickly, and I was able to whip it around on defense with little issue. I did find the feel to be a bit stiff and hollow, and off-center hits were not very forgiving. I thought the power outside of the sweetspot dropped off dramatically and much of the shock was sent up into my arm. Although the stiffness rating of the racquet is fairly low, I still found it pretty uncomfortable on mis-hits."

This racquet grew on Michelle the more she hit with it. Coming from the Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph, she had high expectations for this modern player's racquet, saying, "The sweetspot felt a little smaller than my RF97, but it offered good power when I made contact in the right spot. It did feel slightly erratic outside the sweetspot, though. This seemed to affect me more on my forehand than my backhand. Surprisingly, I found I could be more consistent and more powerful off my backhand with the Ultra 97. I enjoyed stepping up and crushing balls off the forehand side as well, but I found it slightly unstable and experienced a bit of fluttering from time to time. Despite the stability issues on my forehand, I found success driving through the ball with the backhand slice. There was decent power, but it wasn't as powerful as a Pure Drive type racquet. I didn't find a whole lot of spin potential, which was an issue when it came to defense. The Ultra 97 also felt a bit brassy. The lack of stability (compared to my RF97) created some comfort issues."

"This racquet was very maneuverable from the baseline, and I liked that I could whip the racquet through shots and generate plenty of spin," said Marco. "I definitely felt this racquet was more power orientated, and I found it could play a bit erratically at times. I upped the tension a few pounds and put in a firmer poly, which gave me a bit more control."

Volleys - Score: 78

Our team found the most success at the net when they were attacking the ball with the Ultra 97. Andy felt like he had great command over his volleys during the playtest, saying, "It was easy to get the racquet into place during quick exchanges, and its precision allowed me to put the ball where I wanted it over and over again. Like it did when I was at the baseline, though, the racquet twisted too much on off-center hits, and power dropped off dramatically. It was not forgiving at all."

Michelle didn't find much touch at the net. She commented, "I couldn't really execute touch volleys or drop shots well at all. However, it was simple to volley balls back, and I found a rhythm hitting deep, offensive volleys. I wouldn't say it was the most stable racquet when blocking balls back, but when I was stepping up and being the aggressor, it worked well."

"I could access power on volleys pretty easily, with the added benefit of being able to snap the racquet into position quickly," said Marco. "This racquet played well for me up at net. Softer and touch volleys were a bit tougher to execute consistently, but I was often able to put my opponent under pressure when I got up to net."

Chris enjoyed the soft feel of this racquet at net. He said, "There was enough power to help me punch volleys deep with pace. I also thought the racquet felt decently stable -- especially when considering how light and fast it is. I felt connected to where my shots were going and was happy with the control I had on my touch volleys. I played a few doubles matches with this racquet and liked the way I played at net with it."

Serves - Score: 83

Everyone agreed that it was easy to hit big first serves and find enough control on second serves with the Ultra 97. Michelle had a blast hitting big flat first serves with this racquet. She explained, "I found a bunch of free power when serving flat. Unfortunately, I wasn't finding a ton of consistency and lost a little confidence serving with this racquet. I was able to be effective and hit some decent second serves, but there just wasn't a consistent feel. I either had to go all out with a big first serve or hit a second serve as a first serve so I wouldn't double fault."

"I enjoyed being able to go after my serve and felt that the ball really did go where I wanted it to," said big serving Marco. "I didn't find myself having to exert too much effort to get the pop I wanted on my serve, and I could generate good amounts of spin with quick racquet head speed."

Chris explained that there are different aspects to serving success. He noted, "I served well with this racquet. I was missing the pace and spin I get from my Babolat Pure Drive Plus, but I had great consistency. Just like on my groundstrokes, I was getting enough spin to get the job done but not enough to write home and tell my mum about. Both my first and second serves were finding their targets. I could serve with variety without sacrificing much consistency."

Similar qualities were apparent for Andy when serving. He offered, "It was easy to generate racquet head speed and put the ball where I wanted consistently. I could turn that racquet head speed into some decent power and spin potential as well. Forgiveness wasn't as much of an issue when I was serving because I am almost always finding the center of the racquet at contact, so I'd have to say that this was my favorite part of the Ultra 97's playtest."

Returns - Score: 81

Power and control continued to stand out when our playtesters were returning with the Ultra 97, with a few playtesters craving just a bit more stability. Marco had mixed feelings when returning with this racquet. He said, "I liked how I didn't need to take big cuts at the ball to get something on it. I could also chip my backhand return with great effect. I did struggle with stability issues and found the racquet could twist a bit on impact; some lead tape at 3 and 9 on the racquet helped increase the torsional stability and provided better comfort."

The blend of power and control was just right for Chris on returns. He said, "The Ultra 97 was easy to get around, and I liked how I could quickly accelerate it through contact. I found solid success on both drive returns and more defensive block returns. The blend of power, weight, balance and control seemed to make this racquet a solid option no matter what type of return I was hitting. It was like the Swiss Army Knife of racquets, and I felt ready to return whatever serve came at me."

"Two important attributes that I look for in a racquet when returning serve are control and maneuverability," began Andy. "And those were both there in the Ultra 97. Taking returns early and blocking them back deep in the court was easy, but the forgiveness was not quite there when I wanted to take bigger swings. A little more weight in the hoop would've helped with chip returns as well, but for the most part I was having pretty good success during my return games."

Similar to her groundstroke experience, Michelle preferred hitting backhand returns because she had a bit more control off that side. She noted, "My forehand returns felt slightly more erratic, which definitely could be a user error since I slap more off my forehand, but this racquet had a tendency to get slappy in my hands. Some weight in the hoop would definitely help out. Because I didn't feel as dialed in with the location of my returns, I just adjusted and created bigger targets."

Overall - Score: 80