Wilson Pro Tour BLX

Wilson has recently come out with their newest line of racquets, which they are calling the BLX series. This line of racquets is already generating tremendous hype. A lot of this hype is because of the tour’s newest young star, Juan Martin del Potro. Del Potro has been seen playing with one of the new BLX racquets since this year’s Australian Open. Ever since the public caught a glimpse of his new stick, they wondered what it was and where they could get one. The wait is over and Wilson has released his new stick of choice to the public as the Wilson Pro Tour BLX. The racquet is a player’s stick which Wilson claims baseliners will love. I was able to spend a few good hitting sessions with this stick, and here are my thoughts.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

I got this racquet as a demo from Wilson, strung with Wilson Hollow Core 16g at 55lbs. I found the cosmetics of the racquet to be appealing. I love how the bright yellow jumps out with the rest of the racquet being black. When I picked up the racquet the first thing I noticed was the grip. Wilson has introduced new grips on their player sticks with the BLX line. The grip is called a pro hybrid grip and it is a polyurethane grip combined with a leather base. I personally am a fan of the distinct feel of the bevels with a leather grip. I found this new grip to be very comfortable in the hand and offer a firmer feel with the comfort of a cushion/synthetic grip. I found the racquet well weighted as it comes in at around 11.6oz, with a 7pts or (7/8″) headlight balance. The racquet has a nice head shape and size at 96sq in. The swing weight was appealing to me at 332, along with the stiffness of 62. The Pro Tour comes with an 18×20 string pattern. I am a fan of player’s racquets and this new offering from Wilson had me really excited to hit the court.

First of all, I found the Pro Tour easy to maneuver around all areas of the court. The racquet swung easily from the baseline. I never felt like I was muscling the racquet around. It came through the strike zone fast and smooth both on serve and on groundstrokes. At net I found the same maneuverability as I did at the baseline. The racquet moved quick through the air and I found reaction volleys easy to handle. As I stated the racquet is supposed to be quite flexible. I found that the racquet played a bit stiffer than listed. I was finding easy pop from all areas of the court with this stick.

VOLLEYS

I found this stick to suit my game well at net. Like I said earlier I found the racquet really maneuverable, while also offering good pop. It was easy to punch the ball deep in the court with little effort. The dense string pattern offered delicate touch on drop shots and volleys. I felt like I could easily control my volleys with this racquet and place them wherever I pleased.

GROUNDSTROKES

At the baseline the Pro Tour continued to impress. I found I was able to really hit through the ball with good depth and pace. When I hit the ball off center or found myself hitting on the run or from a defensive position, the racquet offered more forgiveness then I usually get with a player’s stick. Probably my favorite shot with this stick was my two handed backhand. I was really able to hit the ball aggressively and go for my shots without worrying about hitting long. I don’t hit my backhand with as much spin as my forehand and I found it easy to rip the ball crosscourt and down the line. I attribute this to the maneuverability of the racquet. The stick gave me just enough mass to hit a big ball while still allowing me to take a quick fast swing, when my preparation was a little subpar. On the forehand wing I was not as impressed. I found access to spin with the racquet but I didn’t feel as though my ball was jumping off the court as it does with my normal racquet. I think the Wilson Pro Tour BLX is more suited to a flatter hitter than someone who prefers to hit a spinier ball. The racquet offered good stability against big hitters. If I were to play with the racquet I would add some weight to give it a more stability and a little more weight to my topspin forehand. The racquet was not quite as whippy as I normally prefer, and I feel a little added weight may help me achieve the weight/balance combination I am looking for. The dense string pattern gave me good bite on slices when I really drove through the ball. If I didn’t have time to really set up for the shot they did float a little more than I would have preferred. I think this is also something a little lead tape could fix.

SERVES

I found the racquet to offer good access to spin and pace on serve. I was getting great slice when hitting the ball out wide on the deuce side and good topspin when hitting from the ad side. The racquet really came through the air quick and I found the stick to offer some easy pop. I wasn’t hitting the biggest serves of my life but serving was definitely enjoyable. Finding my target was a joy with this stick. I found I could easily place the ball where I wanted. Flat serves were enjoyable with the extra pace the racquet had to offer. I think adding a little more weight to the stick could give me the extra MPH I was looking for.

OVERALL CONCLUSION

Overall, I really enjoyed play testing the Wilson Pro Tour BLX. The racquet was maneuverable and offered good pace for a player’s stick. It was a pleasure to hit volleys, serves, and groundstrokes with this stick. I think a baseline or all court player who doesn’t quite want the heft of a 12oz stick will really enjoy this racquet. As for those people who like a little more heft in their stick, this racquet is definitely worth a look, as I feel with some weight this could be a really impressive offering from Wilson. If you are in the market for a new player’s racquet I would suggest giving the Wilson Pro Tour BLX a try. Who knows maybe soon you’ll be hitting forehands like Juan Martin del Potro.

Luxilon Adrenaline

Luxilon strings are well known as some of the best, if not the best polyester strings available to tennis players today. Luxilon is the most popular brand of polyester strings on the ATP tour, as 70 percent of the pros on tour use them. Luxilon Big Banger is probably one of the company’s most popular strings, and a set normally runs around $16 or $17. Many recreational players find this string expensive as they can get synthetic strings for much cheaper. A new offering from Luxilon is now affordable for the masses. This new string is Luxilon Adrenaline and it is available from many retailers for around $10.

During the last few weeks I have had the chance to put Luxilon Adrenaline 16g to the test. I was able to playtest the string in several different setups. First I strung it up as a hybrid at 60lbs with the Luxilon in the mains and Wilson Synthetic Gut in the crosses. After I playtested the string with this setup, I was able to string up my racquet with all Adrenaline at 56lbs.

After playing with the Adrenaline hybrid, I found that the string was an enjoyable hit from all areas of the court. I found that I was getting good spin on the ball from the baseline and on serves. I have definitely played with hybrid setups where I was getting more spin on the ball, but overall I was impressed with the spin potential of this string. As I moved to the net I found nice feel on volleys and touch shots. Just like Big Banger and other Luxilon strings, I found Adrenaline to offer good control from all areas of the court. The Adrenaline has a crisp/firm feel to it, but when strung as a hybrid it was fairly easy on the arm so it didn’t feel as harsh.

Hitting with Adrenaline in a hybrid was enjoyable but I felt it really reached its potential for me when strung as full poly in my racquet. I immediately found even more control over the ball from the baseline. I was able to hit out much more than with the hybrid, without fear of hitting long. I also found much more spin potential from the full poly setup. I was able to get good pop on the ball from the baseline and on serve, as I felt I could really unleash fast swings with this string. Around the net I felt very confident with this string. I was able to really punch the ball deep with no problems. Touch shots didn’t have as good a feel as the hybrid, but that is one of the tradeoffs that comes with stringing a racquet with all poly. The serve was the shot that really stood out for me with the full poly setup. I was getting tremendous spin off my serve when hitting topspin and slice. I would hit the ball well above the net thinking it would go long, and then the ball would seemingly drop from the sky right into the box and kick up above my opponents shoulders. I felt I was getting some of the best spin I have had on serves in a long time. My opponent said I almost knocked the racquet out of his hand on a few of my first serves.

Overall I was really impressed with the Adrenaline string, especially because of its price. I felt like it outplayed many other polys I have tried in the same price range or that were even a bit more expensive. The string had a crisper/firmer feeling to it and I found it a little harsher than Big Banger, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. I think anyone who is a big hitter from the baseline would really enjoy playing with this string, as it is an affordable polyester with all the quality you would expect from Luxilon.