The Wilson Blade 100 v8 offered our team excellent maneuverability and spin potential from the baseline. Jason found the racquet extremely easy to swing on groundstrokes. He started off the playtest strong, saying, "It's even more maneuverable than the previous version, which was already pretty whippy. Combine that with the open string pattern, and I was able to generate tons of spin on my shots. I was also impressed with the pace I was able to get on my groundstrokes considering the overall weight and swingweight are lower than what I'm used to. The one shot where I would've liked a bit more mass in the hoop was probably my backhand slice. I felt that I couldn't really knife my slices very well. Many times they ended up floating, with more of an arc on them than I would've liked."

"Being a big (yet surprised) fan of the Blade 100 v7, I couldn't wait for the update," continued Brittany. "The color-changing cosmetics really made the racquet stand out in my hands when I first picked it up. On court, I had an easy transition to the racquet in terms of swinging and feel in practice, but it did take me a couple sessions to really start playing well with it during matches. It is lower powered, which I expected from my experience with the previous generation, but it still had a good blend of power and control to tap into. I also loved adding spin, both topspin and underspin, to mix up my groundstrokes. I could really brush up on the ball to hit shorter, angled groundstrokes to pull my opponent off the baseline (one of my specialties), as well as hit slice backhands both offensively and defensively (typically one of my weaknesses)."

Up at net, the Blade 100 v8 offered our playtesters enough maneuverability and power to end points decisively. The first thing that stuck out to Brittany was the blend of stability and maneuverability. She said, "Wilson found the perfect balance of the two, which helped me have quick hands up at net without getting pushed around. The sweetspot is rather forgiving, so off-center shots were made with ease. Like with most racquets, I found myself punching my volleys deep to end points. However, every now and again, I would soften my hands up a little and hit a cheeky short volley to keep my opponents on their toes."

Jason had a similar experience when volleying with the Blade 100 v8, although he could have used a little more stability at times. He said, "The excellent maneuverability is apparent up at net. I was able to get this Blade 100 v8 into position to hit volleys without much lag time. I also thought the pop and spin I could get on my volleys were really good. Sure, this racquet does get pushed around slightly, and torsional stability could be better, but I was impressed considering the weight."

The Wilson Blade 100 v8 worked well for our two testers on serves thanks to the spin and precision they found. Jason found a balance of characteristics that helped him start points successfully. He said, "The pace alone would've made this racquet just OK for me on serves, but combining it with the spin I was able to get definitely upped the effectiveness of my serves. I also thought control was pretty good, and I was finding the most success going out wide on the deuce side."

Brittany could hit a variety of serves well with the Blade 100 v8, but she ultimately preferred to hit her slice on first serves. She said, "I could really get the slice serve to land and kick out wide on the deuce side, opening the court up for an easy put-away shot. While I could get some power on my first serve, I did have to work a little harder to get my MPHs up (compared to my racquet of choice, the Yonex EZONE 100). Second serves were consistent throughout entire point play sessions, and I could tap into the spin potential and get the ball to kick out of my opponent's strike zone, starting the point off neutrally."

Our playtesters were immediately able to go on the offensive when returning with the Blade 100 v8. Brittany absolutely loved returning with the Blade 100 v8. She said, "As with most racquets, I preferred to return (over serve) because I was confident starting the point off aggressively. With the lower-powered response and added control, I could really swing out on both first and second serve returns and keep the ball in front of the baseline. I was able to get the racquet into position without having to alter my stroke, and at the same time, the racquet never felt unstable, even against heavy or fast first serves. I loved stepping in and dictating the point from the very first shot. One of my favorite returns to hit was deep up the middle to force my opponent to move out of the way to hit the ball."

Jason didn’t need to hold back on returns. He wrapped up the playtest, saying, " The access to spin helped reel in some of the 'launchiness' the stringbed had, so I was able to get some nice, deep returns."