Babolat Pure Aero VS Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 88

Our playtesters agreed that spin and maneuverability were the standout features of the Babolat Pure Aero VS from the baseline. Jason gelled with this racquet right away. He started the playtest on a positive note, saying, "I could feel a few noticeable improvements from the previous Pure Aero VS. This latest model felt more powerful and more stable than its predecessor. The open string pattern allowed for great access to spin on my forehand side. Because it is slightly less powerful than a regular Pure Aero, I felt like I could swing out more and not be afraid of overhitting as much."

"I was a big fan of the Pure Drive VS when it came out in 2019, so I was excited to see how the new Pure Aero VS would play," added Brittany. "It wasn't love at first sight, but the more I hit with it, the more I appreciated it and grew to really like it. Right off the bat, I noticed the easy maneuverability and spin potential similar to that of a standard Pure Aero. I was able to flick my wrist and create some short, angled groundstrokes and dipping passing shots. I was really impressed with the control. I felt I could be very accurate with my groundstrokes and aim for riskier shots. However, and I am not sure if this was a mental issue knowing it was in the Pure Aero family, but I found my shots to be a little loopier compared to my traditional flatter strokes. I would have liked to be hitting through the court a little more. Lastly, I thought the Pure Aero VS had a solid response on slices. I don't hit a ton, but it did the job that I needed."

While the specs of the Pure Aero VS are a little lighter than what Troy typically prefers, he was nonetheless excited to try this update. He said, "When I think of a Pure Aero or AeroPro Drive, I think of a racquet that feels fast and whippy, is loaded with spin potential and firmer on contact. Those things all held true for this update to the Pure Aero VS, but I found more precision and feel compared to the standard Pure Aero. Even with the 16x20 pattern, topspin generation came very easily. I found that when I wanted to attack I could go big with a flatter shot, and there was enough control to help keep the ball in the court. The weight and swingweight of this racquet are quite a bit lower than I would usually play with, but the stability was decent, all things considered. The feel on contact was firm and crisp, and at the same time, there was a decent amount of dampening. I loved the control and feel I had on my backhand slice, but I found it lacked some plow through to help get the ball deep."

With Tiffani's counterpunching game style, she spends a lot of time on the baseline, so a racquet's groundstroke performance is very important to her. She said, "The VS version has the same easy playability as the regular Pure Aero, but it offers just slightly more control. That's not to say this is a control-oriented racquet by any means. What was most noticeable from the first ball was how easy it was to hit with depth with this Pure Aero VS. It felt like topspin was coming easily when I was out on court, so I was surprised that my PlaySight data showed I was getting more spin with my own racquet, which has a tighter string pattern. I attributed that to a large-feeling grip. We tested a 4 1/4, which is my preferred size, but it felt more like a 4 3/8. It seems easier to add extra action to my shots when I use smaller grip sizes. I would opt to swap the base grip out for a thinner one to make the handle smaller. Aside from that issue, I liked the racquet because it was easy to use and was good for transitioning from defense to offense during point play."

Volleys - Score: 85

When it came to volleys, our playtesters preferred to utilize pace to put the ball away. Brittany enjoyed ending points at net with the Pure Aero VS. She said, "This racquet had a great blend of maneuverability and stability up at net. It was easy enough to get into position, and I never felt like it was getting pushed around. I don't head to net often (unless I am playing doubles), so the majority of my volleys are punch volleys deep into the open court. The Pure Aero VS did this beautifully, and I have no complaints."

For Jason, the beauty of the Pure Aero VS up at net was its versatility. He said, "With a low 320ish swingweight, this racquet was easy to maneuver into place without much resistance. There was power to easily put away shots when the opportunity presented itself, and I felt connected enough to hit drop and touch volleys."

"I'm not the first to volunteer to head to the net, but when I did venture forward with the Pure Aero VS I was confident the racquet could get the job done," added Tiffani. "I liked how stable, yet maneuverable, it felt, and it offered good power. This racquet wasn't enhancing my touch, so I preferred just to punch my volleys and keep it simple, which is typically a better bet for me anyway."

Like the other playtesters, Troy found the Pure Aero VS easy to get into place up at net. He did, however, want to add a little weight. He explained, "There was a very maneuverable feel on volleys. I could manipulate the racquet easily, which helped me react quickly up at net. This made it a very fun and effective racquet for playing doubles since I felt like I had fast hands. With the swingweight coming in quite a bit lower than what I usually play with, there was actually decent stability, but this racquet got pushed around a little when I was facing big hitters. I could place my volleys very precisely, and there was enough feel to hit a drop volley when I needed. When I connected right in the sweetspot there was a nice pop on the ball. I think some added weight to the hoop would help with stability and reduce a bit of unwanted vibration."

Serves - Score: 84

The playtesters had mostly positive things to say when it came to serving with the Babolat Pure Aero VS. However, some were looking for more free pace. Troy described the Pure Aero VS as fast, powerful and spin friendly. He said, "The amount of racquet head speed I was getting with this lighter spec racquet, compared to what I usually play with, had me contemplating going down in weight and swingweight. I could get easy power on flat and kick serves. When I was hitting spin serves this racquet helped me generate easy RPMs. I loved hitting my kick serve. I could flick the racquet with little effort, and then get a lot of bite on the ball from what I would call a very generous or open 16x20 string pattern. If anything, a little extra weight in the hoop of this racquet would help me get some added power on my flat first serve."

"I was serving consistently with this racquet, so I was a little surprised at the power level," continued Jason. "I was expecting a bit more pop, similar to what I found on my groundstrokes, but luckily, getting lots of spin was easy and helped make my serves effective. Maybe if it were 2 to 3 points more head heavy the issue would be fixed."

Tiffani would have liked more easy power and spin. She said, "Once again, I wished the grip didn't feel quite so big in my hand because I think spin would have been easier to generate for me. This Pure Aero VS didn't feel quite as powerful as the regular version of the racquet, but it was more than adequate."

While Brittany thought the Pure Aero's specs were more than adequate for serving, she was also looking for a little more power at times. She said, “The Pure Aero VS excelled at slice and kick serves. I found myself relying on the slice out wide on first serves, and a kick serve to the backhand on second serves. I didn't have any issues generating spin, and I could get plenty of racquet head speed. Most importantly, I could maintain the racquet head speed throughout an entire session without any fatigue. However, I personally prefer the Pure Drive; it is my favorite racquet to serve with because it just offers that easy pace."

Returns - Score: 86

Across the board, our team favored returning to start points off with the Pure Aero VS. The racquet's stability and control on returns allowed Brittany to feel confident taking full cuts at the ball. She said, "With the easy access to spin, I had no problem really attacking the serve to start the point off on the offensive. When I was returning a first serve with a little more pace, I could easily adapt and block the return back deep without any twisting issues in my hands."

"I'm almost always going to prefer returning with a racquet over serving with it," explained Tiffani. "The Babolat Pure Drive and Pure Aero might be the exceptions since those racquets just seem to improve my serve. However, the VS version was the usual story. I just felt more confident returning with this racquet. It was easy to get the Pure Aero VS around and put returns deep into the court. I didn't find pinpoint accuracy with this racquet, so I needed to choose smarter targets."

Jason was very impressed when it came to returns. He said, "Loved it. I could be aggressive and take full cuts at the ball and also hit sharper angles to pull my opponent off the court. Meanwhile, the open string pattern helped control that power to keep shots inside the lines."

Just like with the rest of his strokes, Troy wanted to add a little weight to the Pure Aero VS to increase its stability. He wrapped up the playtest, saying, "The maneuverability was the standout feature on returns. I could take a short backswing and still generate a lot of racquet speed. I also found easy power when I tried stepping in and attacking with my returns. Against big servers, there were times I wanted a little more stability. When I needed to utilize my slice return I could have used a little more plow through to help carry the ball deep. The firmer feel was slightly jarring if I made contact outside the sweetspot when facing a high-speed serve. I think a little weight at 3 and 9 o'clock would help with both issues."

Overall - Score: 86