Wilson Pro Staff 97S 2018

Disclaimer: I am sponsored and I was given permission to release this picture.

For the last 12 years I have been looking to replace my Wilson Pro Staff 6.1 Stretch Hyper Carbon. I have tried countless racquets: Dunlop 200 and 200 Stretch, Dunlop 300 Microgel, Babolat Pure Control (first generation) PS 6.1 Ncode, BLX, Head Prestige (PT57A) to name a few. I always went back to my Hyper Carbons. The feel was perfect, balance suited my aggressive game perfectly and I could never find a racquet that came remotely close to giving me the same feeling on the court until the Six.One 95S. That racquet brought me right back to Wilson and for the first time in about 8 years I got new frames. I followed that up with what I thought was a beautiful racquet in the 97S. First time I hit with it my training partner immediately said he could tell I was married to it. Needless to say I got off the court and got a hold of my Wilson rep for some immediate frames. I played with that racquet for the last 9 months. I even customized one with RPNY to make it 27.5 inches and a balance of 30.2, only .6 off the Hyper Carbon. It still wasn't perfect and then last week I got a gift from Wilson!

 

I have had the racquets less than a week. I have 3 hours of play time and I can tell you that if you are looking for a racquet that is a bit more on the grip heavy side then this is your stick! 6pts head light is very noticeable especially if you have a one handed backhand like me or love to be at the net. Its very easy to maneuver and it definitely makes it easier to accelerate more. I will probably experiment by adding a bit of lead tape to the grip but so far the racquet feels fantastic. I am playing with a mix of Ytex Cuandro Twist on the mains at 52lbs and Babolat VS Touch on the crosses at 49lbs. I will probably go up to 55/52 once I break the string and replace VS Touch with Sensation 15g.  The paint job is SWEET!!!! Its smooth and not slippery at all and gets a lot of attention from people passing by. It definitely is a set up from the current 97S, the laser etched Pro Staff is bad ass as well. I will post an update after a couple weeks but so far this racquet has been fantastic!