Babolat Pure Aero Rafa Racquet 2023 Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 85

Our playtesters may have varied game styles and skill levels, but they could all agree that the Babolat Pure Aero Rafa made generating spin a breeze from the baseline. Even with her flatter mechanics, Tiffani put added RPMs on her shots. She began, "Heading onto the court with the Pure Aero Rafa in hand, it's hard not to expect tons of spin potential. On the one hand, it bears the name of Rafa, and on the other, the Pure Aero line and the AeroPro Drive before it are known as very spin-friendly racquets. This new Pure Aero Rafa definitely delivered, and after hitting just one cross-court dipper, I found myself wanting to hit more and more of them — even when it probably wasn't the best shot selection. This racquet felt solid for its weight and came through the hitting zone with more plow through than I would expect, and that is likely why I was so pleased with this racquet's performance on slices. I could hit offensive or defensive slices and get them to stay low, when I typically find racquets with an open string pattern and less weight to float the ball on this shot. The feel has more of an old-school Babolat flavor in that it isn't as dampened. The one struggle I had is that I'm not really a spin player, so I did change my stroke path and try to hit a loopier ball to up my consistency. When I kept my usual flatter strokes, I had a harder time staying in long rallies."

Jason had similar thoughts, adding, "Even though this racquet is much lighter than my own, I was still able to hit with pretty good depth and pace. As to be expected with a racquet bearing Rafa's name, it had great access to spin. I was also happily surprised with how well I was able to hit my backhand slice with this racquet. The nearly-even balance definitely helped the racquet knife through the air on that shot. The one downside is that the racquet can be a bit launchy, so I had to be careful about adding topspin to my shots."

The spin potential fit right into Zsofi's game plan. She said, "I had a ton of fun testing the new Pure Aero Rafa! This colorway really got me excited to pick up the racquet and get on court to see what it was all about. If you like to hit the ball with a lot of spin, this is the racquet for you. Babolat lowered the weight for this Pure Aero compared to previous versions, making it more maneuverable. I felt like I was able to bring the racquet head around faster, which allowed me to get under the ball easier and create more spin. This spin really helped me open up the court and take control of the rallies."

Howard added, "Because the Babolat Pure Aero Rafa is a lighter racquet than I normally play with, hitting with it was simple and sweet. I enjoyed the spin potential and easy maneuverability. The stringbed felt a bit launchy, so I did have trouble at times hitting a low slice. Stability was an issue against harder hitting opponents, but that is an easy fix with additional weight added to the racquet."

Although Alex is not used to playing with such a powerful racquet, he had a positive experience on groundstrokes. He said, "From the baseline, it was easy to generate power and heavy spin, but it was a bit hard for me to keep the ball inside the court. On my backhand, I was able to add a lot of spin when I needed to buy myself more time, but also when I was able to play more aggressively. On my forehand, it was the same story — great spin, great power, and I was even able to finish points with a short cross-court winner."

Volleys - Score: 83

The Pure Aero Rafa felt pretty straightforward at the net for our playtesters. There were no big surprises, and for Zsofi, that meant she could execute a variety of volley tactics. She said, "I really enjoyed the Pure Aero Rafa on volleys. I could easily play around with cutting the ball and hitting drop volleys. The sweetspot was pretty generous on this racquet, and I also enjoyed how easily I could hit deep volleys in the court."

Alex, however, thought this racquet excelled at offense. He explained, "My volleys were super powerful, and it was easy to finish the point with an aggressive volley. That said, I had some difficulties controlling the ball on low or defensive volleys."

Similarly, Tiffani liked to keep it simple at net. She said, "I enjoyed this racquet at net. It offered a good blend of stability and maneuverability. I found it to play best when I punched the ball deep. The ball stayed on target and performed as expected."

"The low-320 swingweight made the Pure Aero Rafa maneuverable enough that it was easy to hit reflex volleys, and the even balance helped with torsional stability," added Jason. "Could I have used slightly more mass to help with power and stability? Sure. But considering it's a 290-gram racquet, it was solid up at net."

Howard, who enjoys closing points out at net, said, "Volleys and overheads were fairly easy with the Pure Aero Rafa. I felt comfortable enough to hit both touch volleys and punch volleys with this racquet. At times, I did find that stability was an issue at net. Whenever an opponent would blast a shot, I felt the racquet twist a bit, but again, using some tungsten tape to weight this racquet up would be an easy solution."

Serves - Score: 85

Not surprisingly, pace and spin were easy to access when our playtesters stepped up to serve with the Pure Aero Rafa. Whether he was hitting first or second serves, Alex was impressed. He said, "The feel was great when I hit the ball on my first serve. I served some aces, and I was also able to generate big kick serves on my second serves."

Jason leaned into the spin potential for his serves. He said, "Serving with this racquet was a breeze. It was easy to swing and accelerate it through contact, and with that open string pattern, I was able to put lots of spin on my serves. There is enough power to make my serve effective, but I would've liked a little more mass to up the power level."

As another fan of this racquet's spin potential, Howard added, "With the combination of a 100-square-inch head and a lightweight frame, I was able to serve with ease. Although I wish I had a bit more mass on serves, I was still able to generate a great amount of pop and kick on my serves. My favorite serve with this racquet was my kick serve kick to my opponent's backhand."

"Second serves were a highlight for me," continued Zsofi. "I felt like I could always rely on that added spin that the Pure Aero is so good at. That extra pop was really enjoyable on my serves!"

As she did from other areas of the court, Tiffani found herself hitting more spin shots from the service line. She described, "Babolat makes one of my favorite serving racquets, which is the Pure Drive. The Pure Aero Rafa gave me a similar boost in this department, but it was not quite up to the level of the Pure Drive, but that could be because it's slightly lighter or because the Pure Drive fits my game style a bit better. My best serves with the Pure Aero Rafa were slices. I used that for both first and second serves, and when I made a good connection, I could get the ball moving out wide on the deuce side."

Returns - Score: 80

When it came to returning serves, some of our players were seeking just a bit more weight from the Pure Aero Rafa. It was against big first serves that Jason really noticed the racquet's lighter weight compared to his usual choices. He said, "Like with my groundstrokes, I found easy spin and depth on my shots. When I had time to tee off on a return, I was rewarded with a very effective shot. I wasn't necessarily missing any weight while being offensive, but when I was blocking a return back, I was left wanting more mass to help get the ball deeper into the court."

Alex also struggled some when it was time to go on the defensive. He noted, "It was easy to counter my opponent's serve, but my main issue was keeping the ball inside the lines, especially when I needed to defend."

Zsofi had similar feedback, adding, "As with everything, there is a give and take with this racquet, which for me was that the lower weight of the racquet meant a tradeoff in control. This loss of control showed up when I tried to return faster paced serves. I would personally love to add a few more grams to this racquet because I'm sure it would help increase the stability and my confidence in my returns."

Some fine-tuning was needed for Tiffani, but she was comfortable returning overall. She explained, "Although I'm usually pretty confident on returns, it did take me a bit to adjust to the Pure Aero Rafa's flight path. My first few returns went long past the baseline, so like with my groundstrokes, I tried changing my stroke path to put more topspin on the ball. That definitely helped me better control my depth on returns. This racquet once again felt stable for its weight, and although it wasn't what I would describe as whippy, it was plenty maneuverable for me."

Howard wrapped up this review, saying, "With the aerodynamics this racquet provides, together with an open string pattern, I loved how I was able to take a good cut at the ball and have it dip deep in the court. As for stability, I was surprised to find that the return of serve was the area where I felt the Pure Aero Rafa was the most stable. The racquet moved quickly enough in the air to allow me to block back body serves and get me ready for the next shot. A bit more stability would help improve this racquet, but overall I'm happy with how it performed on serve returns."

Overall - Score: 82