Picking the right tennis racket is usually an emotionally driven decision. You hardly find a quality difference between Babolat Pure Aero and Wilson ProStaff. Different types of players need different types of rackets, but for recreational players, the decision usually depends on what they like in terms of design or brand awareness. We looked at Babolat and Wilson tennis rackets trying to find out which one is better. This is not an exhausting comparative review based on hours of playing with different types of Babolat and Wilson rackets. I think that for beginners the choice is pure emotion. Do I like more Babolat or Wilson? Babolat versus Wilson Tennis Racket Comparison written by me.
Companies background
Babolat
Babolat VS S.A. is French company owned by family Babolat with headquarters in Lyon, France. Babolat was established in 1875 by Pierre Babolat, who invented natural gut tennis strings. Babolat produces rackets, apparel, shoes and other equipment for tennis, badminton, and padel. The company is still run by Babolat family and CEO is Eric Babolat. Babolat is the leader in connected sports technology and in 2015 it introduced first connected tennis racket.
Wilson
Wilson Sporting Goods Company has headquarters in Chicago, IL. It is fully owned subsidiary of Finish Amer Group Ltd. from 1989. Wilson was established in 1913 as part of meat producer Ashland Manufacturing Company. Wilson focused on the special use of slaughterhouse byproducts. In 1914 it produced e.g. tennis strings. The name Wilson Sporting Goods Company was adopted after series of acquisitions and mergers in 1931.
Currently, Wilson family brands consist of Wilson itself, Louisville, DeMarini, Atec, Evoshield and Luxilon (tennis strings – check our guide how to choose the best tennis strings). Wilson produces sportswear and equipment for Baseball, Tennis, Golf, Football, Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball, Softball, Badminton, Racquetball and Squash.
Players
Many recreational players make a decision about tennis rackets due to sympathy to some pro player. To have a racket of the same brand (and even type) like your favorite player makes you feel irrationally fine on the tennis court. Babolat and Wilson both have one trademark player everybody knows. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Nadal plays with Babolat Pure Aero and Federer with Wilson Pro Staff. But there are many more players using Babolat and Wilson rackets. Check just a few well-known names below or click on the full list of players.
Babolat
| Men | Rafael Nadal | Dominic Thiem | Jack Sock | Fabio Fognini | Jo Wilfred Tsonga | Sam Querrey |
| Ladies | Caroline Wozniacki | Garbine Muguruza | Karolina Pliskova | Julia Goerges | Johanna Konta | Elise Mertens |
The full list of players using Babolat rackets can be found here
Wilson
| Men | Roger Federer | Grigor Dimitrov | Juan Martin Del Potro | Milos Raonic | David Goffin | Tennys Sandgren |
| Ladies | Simona Halep | Elena Svitolina | Jelena Ostapenko | Serena Williams | Venus Williams | Petra Kvitova |
The full list of players using Wilson rackets can be found here
Generally, Wilson is the most used racket brand on ATP and WTA tour, Babolat is the second most used racket brand. Babolat dominates over Wilson among ladies, but Wilson has quite an edge over Babolat among men professionals.
Check latest numbers of players from ATP and WTA TOP 100 using respective racket brands here
Design
Babolat
Blue and white combination is characteristic for Babolat tennis rackets. But you can fairly often see also yellow and black color combination, or red and white. Blue and white, or white and black, or blue and black combination is less common but you can still recognize the usual double stripe.
Wilson
We can say that Babolat rackets are nice. But Wilson rackets are just spectacular. Current design with the black frame is stunning. I like the simple but modern look of Wilson rackets. I prefer the full black frame version, but rackets with a colored stripe on racket head (green, orange or red) are beautiful too.
In my eyes, design trophy belongs definitely to Wilson, but I know that this is an absolutely subjective evaluation.
Product Range
Babolat
PURE AERO | PURE DRIVE | PURE STRIKE |
|---|---|---|
Spin | Power | Control |
Wilson
CLASH | BLADE | BURN | PRO STAFF | ULTRA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Revolution | Spin and Control | Power | Control | Power and Spin |
SHOP WILSON CLASH TENNIS RACKETS ON AMAZON | SHOP WILSON BURN TENNIS RACKETS ON AMAZON | SHOP WILSON PRO STAFF TENNIS RACKETS ON AMAZON | SHOP WILSON ULTRA TENNIS RACKETS ON AMAZON |
The full list of Tennis Racquet Reviews we made
My subjective pick is …
I like the Babolat family history of inventing and producing a narrow scale of products for racket sports. I like Babolat for keeping the company in private hands and doing what they have done for past 150 years. They have my sympathy.
I like Wilson plain black design of tennis rackets. It is just simple but beautiful.
I respect Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. They both are synonymous with sportsmanship, great tennis, and humility. But I like Roger little bit more.
So Wilson slightly prevails over Babolat. My subjective pick would be: Wilson Pro Staff RF97
Updated May 2019: Wilson Clash, the new racket from Wilson is the new subjective pick – Check this review to find out why.
Looking for Wilson racket and want to read a review based on practicing with different Wilson rackets? Check our 3 Best Wilson Tennis Rackets Guide.
Looking for Babolat racket but do not know which one to choose? Check our Best Tennis Rackets for Every Player Guide.
Want to buy a tennis racket for your kid? What size is the best? Our Kids Tennis Racket Guide has all answers.
