The most important part of your game is definitely your tennis racket. There is no general opinion which rackets is the best in the world. Every group of players has different preferences. Tennis Racket suitable for professionals can be too hard for an amateur to use. What is good for women playing recreationally could be bad for a junior amateur. We look at different categories and give you a hint of what are the best tennis rackets for every group of players.
Content:
How to choose the best tennis racket?
Best Tennis Rackets for Women
— Professional players
— Intermediate & Advanced Players
— Beginners
Best Tennis Rackets for Men
— Professional Players
— Intermediate & Advanced Players
— Beginners
Top 2019 Tennis Rackets (Best & New Models)
Top 2020 Tennis Rackets (Best & New Models)
Best Tennis Racket – What has to be taken into consideration?
The term “best tennis racket” can be tricky. The best for one player is not the best for another player. Different players have different needs and what suits one does not necessarily suit all. Therefore we need to be very careful with the use of the best tennis racket. Basically, you need to consider more features and elements to pick the best tennis racket for you.
At first, you need to consider the length, weight and head size of the racket. Then you should think about the features needed for your playing style.
Length
Length is the basic and the most simple parameter. The adult tennis racket is usually 27 inches long, that is the same almost for all tennis rackets. No need to think about it for a long time.
Weight
Weight of the racket is usually in the range from 250 grams to 350 grams. The heavier rackets are for more advanced players. The lighter rackets are suitable for intermediate and beginner players. Recreational players use rackets with a weight of around 300 grams. Professionals go with 330+ grams rackets. Lighter rackets are easier to swing and have a shorter reaction time. Heavier rackets have more power and you will be able to hit harder and play more aggressive.
Head Size
Head size is directly connected with the size of the sweet spot. The sweet spot is the place that directly hits the ball. Larger head size means a larger sweet spot. Then you will have fewer off hits.
95 square inches and 98 square inches head sizes are really for more advanced players. Intermediate players usually play with 100 square inches rackets. Beginners use bigger head sizes (100+ square inches).
Features – Control & Spin & Power
There are three basic features you need to have in a balance. Control, spin potential, and power.
Control means that the ball will land at the place you target. The spin potential is the ability of tennis racket to give the ball topspin or backspin with lower possible effort. Power is the ability of the racket to add speed to your hits.
It is hard to have all these three factors at the highest possible level. If your racket has big spin potential and precision of the shots is high, then you will probably need a lot of extra effort to play aggressive tennis with strong hits. The more powerful racket you get than you will lack either the control or you will have a problem to play hits with a spin.
Therefore you need to find a tennis racket that will suit your needs. Offensive players prefer heavier rackets (315+ grams) with smaller head sizes (95 to 98 sq. inches) to maximize the power. Defensive players use lighter rackets (300 grams) with head sizes around 100 square inches.
Below you will find our recommendations for the best tennis players for different categories of players.
BEST TENNIS RACKETS FOR WOMEN
Tennis Rackets used by Women professionals
Most used tennis racket brands among Women professionals world are Babolat and Wilson. Approximately two-thirds of WTA Top 100 players use racket from one of these two brands. Yonex and Head are used by approximately twenty-five percent of Top 100 players. The rest of the players use either Prince, Dunlop/Srixon, Tecnifibre, Slazenger or Volkl rackets.
Best Tennis Racket for Professional Players
BABOLAT PURE DRIVE
Head size: 100 sq.inches
Weight: 300 g
CHECK PRICE ON AMAZON
Best Tennis Racket for Intermediate and Advanced Players
WILSON BLADE 104
Famous brand, a famous racket used by famous tennis players. Serena and Venus Williams won a lot of games and tournaments with this piece of tennis art. The Bigger head gives you extra reach, the sweet spot is adjusted to the bigger frame. All clicks together and you have probably the best racket for women in the world.
Head size: 104 sq.inches or 98 sq.inches
Weight: 289 g
CHECK PRICE ON AMAZON
Best Tennis Racket for Beginners
TECNIFIBRE T-REBOUND TEMPO
Our review of Tecnifibre T-Rebound Tempo
Head size: 100 sq. inches
Weight: 255 to 290 grams (depending on the exact model)
CHECK PRICE ON AMAZON
BEST TENNIS RACKETS FOR MEN
Tennis Rackets used by Men professionals
In Men pro tennis world there three dominant brands. Wilson, Head, Babolat fights for the title of most used men racket brands. However, they are still neck to neck these days. More than seventy-five percent of ATP Top 100 players use rackets of these three companies. The rest of ATP Top 100 players use Yonex, Tecnifibre, Srixon/Dunlop, Prince, Pro Kennex or Pacific Rackets.
Best Tennis Racket for Professional players
WILSON PRO STAFF RF 97 AUTOGRAPH
Our review of Wilson Pro Staff 97LS [290 grams version]tennis racket
Head size: 97 sq. inches
Strung Weight: 355 g
CHECK PRICE ON AMAZON
Best Tennis Racket for Intermediate and Advanced Players
Wilson Clash 100
Our review of Wilson Clash 100 tennis racket
Head size: 100 sq. inches
Strung Weight: 310 g
CHECK PRICE ON AMAZON
BABOLAT AEROPRO DRIVE
Racket used by clay king, one and only, Rafael Nadal. This racket is an absolute killer from the baseline but still lets the player to have a great ball feel. The racket frame is probably the fastest in the world.
Head Size: 100 sq.inches
Weight: 300 g
CHECK PRICE ON AMAZON
Best Tennis Racket for Beginner & Intermediate players
HEAD GRAPHENE XT SPEED PRO
The higher version is used by Novak Djokovic. This version with an 18 x 20 string pattern is more forgiving than other comparable rackets. The Dense pattern gives you an increased sweet spot and you will always hit the target.
Head Size: 100 sq.inches
Strung Weight: 332 g
CHECK PRICE ON AMAZON
BEST TENNIS RACKETS FOR KIDS & JUNIORS
Read our special article here – Best rackets for Kids and Juniors
BEST TENNIS RACKETS 2019
There were a lot of new models and updates of older tennis rackets models in 2019. Here are three top models of the 2019 season.
BABOLAT PURE AERO 2019
Price: $$
Rafael Nadal had another great year in 2019 and Babolat got some credit for it too. His Babolat Pure Aero racket got a 2019 facelift. The perfect racket becomes more perfect again. Now it is less stiff but keeps all the great features it already had.
Check the availability of Babolat Pure Aero 2019 on Amazon here.
WILSON CLASH
Price: $$
February 15, 2019, was the day when a new tennis racket star was born. Clash is absolutely different from all Wilson produced so far. It is so good that in 2020 Wilson starts to implement technologies from Clash to other its frames too. No surprise it made to our overall list of the all-time best tennis rackets.
Check all specifications of Wilson Clash available on Amazon here.
HEAD EXTREME
Price: $
Head went all yellow in 2019 with its new Extreme series. Head Graphene 360+ technology is known for its ultimate power and speed. Extreme series adds also excellent spin feature. Moreover, the pricing is more than favorable, so it is no surprise Head Extreme became bestseller instantly.
Check all specifications of the Head Extreme series available on Amazon here.
A full overview with all new models for 2019 and all available specifications of the top tennis rackets 2019 can be found here.
BEST TENNIS RACKETS 2020
The year 2020 brings new models and updates of old ones with new technologies and designs. Our top three picks of the best tennis rackets 2020 are below.
YONEX EZONE
Price: $
Yonex updated its Ezone tennis racket used by Nick Kyrgios and Naomi Osaka. The first visible change is the new color on the frame. The green replaced the good old blue but that is not the only change. The isometric head used by Yonex was upgraded and the sweet spot is a bit larger again.
A new green Yonex Ezone can be bought here on Amazon.
HEAD GRAVITY
Price: $$
Head brought a new force (as its marketing headline says it). Head Gravity is a new model added to the already wide product range of Head tennis rackets. The power is the thing Gravity emphasizes the most.
Check Price of Head Gravity on Amazon here.
WILSON BLADE v7
Price: $$
Wilson starts to add unique technologies used in its 2019 hit Wilson Clash also to other frames. Wilson Blade got an upgrade to v7 with FeelFlex technology and now Blade v7 is more flexible but also more stable than the older Blade model. Five different specifications of Blade v7 include also Serena Williams’s favorite Wilson Blade SW104 v7 Autograph Countervail version.
Check Prices of Wilson Blade v7 here on Amazon.
More about all new models in 2020, new technologies used in frames, design changes in upgraded models, all available specifications can be found in our overview of best tennis rackets 2020 here.
Check also our guides for other pieces of tennis equipment you could need for your tennis play
Find out more about how to choose the best tennis shoes for every surface
Find out more about how to choose the best strings for your racket
Find out more about how to choose the best tennis ball machine and best tennis balls for your practice
Just curious how much has changed since Wilson 2000’s. Last good games were earlier than 77 and sad to see it impossible to find a court anyway. Thanks folks for still doing what you like. Even in Spokane in 76 we had courts south of town under the Interstate now parking. Back issues keep me away but not as much as terrible choice of people left to ask.
It’s sad that the one brand of racquet that had more top pro’s behind it in history, isn’t even among your listing. I’m referring to Slazenger, which is the schtisk I’ve behind since “96”. I use a 1’st generation Silhouette, which is around 350 g, and generates enough cahonies to take racquets out of peoples hands, and to even lay out opponents on my serve. I don’t need any of those fancy newfangled ones.
Thanx.
Best Tennis Rackets for Power
Babolat Pure Drive. Head size: 100in² / 645cm² String pattern: 16×19. …
Yonex EZONE 100. Head size: 100in² / 645cm² String pattern: 16×19. …
Prince Textreme Beast 98. Head size: 98in² / 630cm² String pattern: 16×20. …
Head Graphene 360 Extreme Pro. Head size: 100in² / 645cm² …
Wilson Ultra 100 V3. Head size: 100in² / 645cm² visit here