Summary

When discussing the best Babolat rackets, tennis players invariably mention the Pure Drive or Pure Aero, two rackets with universally appealing levels of speed, spin, pop and precision. The Pure Strike line, by contrast, rarely gets mentioned in the same breath. However, if our playtest team has it right, the new Pure Strike 16x19 will soon be in the conversation. It possesses the same easy acceleration and phenomenal "out of the box " playability of its iconic siblings, but it comes with a lower stiffness level and boxier beam. The upshot, for our playtesters, was a stick that delivered the explosiveness of a modern player's racket without sacrificing the classic virtues of control and feel -- or, in the words of playtester Chris Edwards, "This is a softer Pure Drive. " Although our team gave this stick Prestige-like scores for control, this is not your daddy's control racket. It's faster and livelier, and it's been retooled with a slightly thicker beam and juicier stringbed. The Pure Strike 16x19 not only gave us enough pop and confidence to drive the ball through the court, but the spin potential bordered on mindless. Ultimately, by packing a surprisingly stable response into a light and speedy player's frame, Babolat has produced yet another universally appealing racket, and one that delivers amazing command over the ball (and feels great doing it). As for downsides, check back later, we're still looking.