Breakdown

Groundstrokes: 8.6

The Pure Drive has long been one of Brittany's favorite racquets, dating back over 20 years ago when it was her racquet of choice. She started off the playtest strong, enjoying the blend of nostalgia and automatic power. She described, "No adjustment period needed for this update! As soon as I picked up the Pure Drive 2025 it felt like I was playing juniors again. I love that it is such an easy-to-use racquet, and I can just pick it up and go play. I love the power, spin and maneuverability from the baseline. The racquet makes me want to be aggressive and really go after my shots to take control of the point right away. I hit some great flat down-the-line shots that I like to call 'flatliners.' The downside of this is that it can be easy to go for too much and miss long, so I found going for bigger targets and adding more spin helped me be consistent. On the flip side, I loved the Pure Drive 2025 when I was on defense. When I was stretched and reaching for a shot, it was easy to get it back high and deep in the court and get myself in a neutral position for the next shot. Slices were just fine for me; this isn't the best racquet to slice with, but it got the job done."

As one of our most RPM-heavy in-house hitters, Jason was delighted by the amount of topspin he was able to generate. He said, "This latest Pure Drive brought a lot of easy power and depth to my groundstrokes, which is not surprising if you've ever hit with a Pure Drive. I thought it was a pretty maneuverable racquet, and I had no issues generating racquet head speed. That allowed me to get a ton of spin on my shots, which was definitely needed to help reel in some of the power. I noticed the flightiness mostly on flatter shots, which I tend to hit more of on my backhand. I felt like I couldn't necessarily go 100 percent on flatter swings for fear of shots flying long on me."

Zsofi had an absolute blast playtesting the Babolat Pure Drive 2025, reveling in the easy power and her ability to consistently hit big. She said, "I think that the best way to describe this racquet would be that it is just so fun! When you pick up a Pure Drive you already kind of have an idea of how it is going to play, and I will say that this racquet is very much a Pure Drive. I loved the power levels; power was just very easy to come by, and I didn't have to work too hard at all to get the pop I like on my shots. The racquet head comes around fast and is just very easy to maneuver, and it allows for easy adjustments with your wrist if needed. I loved hitting backhand slices with the Pure Drive 2025 because the response felt extremely plush and comfortable. It almost surprised me just how much I liked hitting such a control-oriented shot with this racquet."

Over at Tennis Warehouse Europe, the playtesters put the Pure Drive 2025 to the test on the indoor courts. Luca really liked the Babolat Pure Drive 2025 from the baseline, and he was surprised at how reliabile he found this "power" frame. He explained, "It let me play with a powerful rhythm, and I could generate a lot of spin and power. Surprisingly, it still offered good control and maneuverability on my groundstrokes. I’m someone who usually prefers racquets focused more on control, so this really impressed me."

Alex agreed with the rest of the team. He added, "The Pure Drive 2025 allows me to dictate points with powerful, heavy shots. On my forehand, I was able to accelerate my swing to hit with spin for extra safety when aiming close to the baseline. On my backhand, the versatility of the racquet stood out, enabling me to switch between slice and topspin shots."

Volleys: 7.7

Our team had some mixed opinions when it came to the Pure Drive 2025's performance on volleys. Alex felt that he could come up to net with confidence. He said, "With the Pure Drive 2025's quick handling and powerful response, I could hit explosive volleys with precision. On overhead smashes, the Pure Drive's power gave me the confidence to finish points decisively, even in high-pressure situations."

On the other hand, some of the other playtesters were a little less enthusiastic up at net. Luca didn't feel as connected to his shots here, saying, "When it comes to volleying with the Pure Drive 2025, I wasn't as convinced. Sometimes, the racquet felt a little off balance-wise or maybe it was due to the stiffness. Whatever it was, it made volleying feel a bit less fluid compared to the other areas of my game."

For Jason, though, the Pure Drive 2025 proved obedient on volleys. He said, "I really enjoyed the Pure Drive 2025 up at net. The combination of power and spin made winning points on volleys pretty easy. I also liked it on my overheads because they felt effortless to execute." 

Likewise, Brittany found a lot of success at net, employing heavy put-aways to finish off points. She noted, "Because of how fun the racquet was at the baseline and how I was going for my shots, I found myself transitioning up to net more frequently than normal. While the Pure Drive 2025 doesn't have a lot of feel and I didn't feel comfortable hitting trickier volleys, I didn't need to! The shots my opponent was getting back were typically easy replies that I would just punch into the open court. Now when I compare this racquet to the Pure Drive 98, the volley was the one area where I thought the 98 performed a little bit better."

Elsewhere, Zsofi was looking for a little more feel up at net. She said, "I honestly felt a bit disconnected from my volleys with the Pure Drive 2025. It is not a racquet that is going to excel at touch shots, and I tend to hit lot of touch volleys versus just slapping them in. Because of that, this racquet wasn't my favorite on volleys."

Serves: 9.1

The Pure Drive is renowned for its serve capabilities, and all the testers on this playtest were delighted when it was their turn to start the point. This racquet actually sets the bar for Brittany when she is evaluating a frame's serve potential. She explained, "I hold every racquet I playtest up to the gold standard of the Pure Drive when it comes to serving, and I can safely say the Pure Drive 2025 remains at the top of the list. First serves were powerful and landing deep in the court. I definitely noticed an increase in MPHs, as well as free points on my opponents. I love having much shorter service games, and I could maintain it throughout a match without any arm fatigue. The maneuverability and spin allowed me to consistently make second serves that my opponents couldn’t attack."

Jason felt he was getting more free points than usual and setting himself up for success in rallies. He said, "I was definitely winning some easy points on my serve with this racquet. It has a good amount of pop, so I felt like I was getting a few extra MPHs without making any other changes. I thought the control was pretty good for such a powerful racquet."

Zsofi also had a lot of fun with the 2025 Pure Drive on serve. She enjoyed the power, but she may have enjoyed the spin potential on kick serves even more. She said, "Another shot I loved with this racquet was my serve. I don't necessarily rely on my serves too much for my game, but I felt like I could really tap into the power of the Pure Drive 2025 on my serves. I especially liked it on my kick serves."

The Pure Drive 2025 had the right blend of characteristics for Alex’s serve. He explained, "Serving is another area where the Pure Drive 2025 excels. This combination of accuracy and versatility made serving a particularly enjoyable experience."

Likewise, the new Pure Drive gave Luca plenty of confidence to go for heavier and more spin-based serves. He said, "The serve was also great with the Pure Drive 2025. I could generate a lot of power and spin, which made me feel confident and helped improve my game."

Returns: 8.2

For the most part, our team thoroughly enjoyed how this Pure Drive 2025 performed on returns, and they made good use of the easy power and spin available at any moment. The Pure Drive 2025 was effective, but not exceptional, for Luca’s particular style of return. He described, "When it comes to return of serve, the Pure Drive 2025 offers solid performance. The control is good, and I can generate some decent power and spin when returning, but I wouldn't say it's the standout feature of the racquet. It's certainly reliable, but I'd say the baseline and serve are its strongest suits."

The Pure Drive 2025 helped Alex return serves with authority. He noted, "Returning was great with this Babolat Pure Drive. I could generate a big spin return to push my opponent back, giving me a chance to start points on the offensive.

Although she had to be mindful of her tendency to hit long with this racquet, Zsofi liked what the Pure Drive 2025 offered when redirecting serves. She explained, "It was very easy to be aggressive on my returns with the Pure Drive 2025. I really had to be mindful of overhitting, though, so I did lack a bit of control, but as long as I kept that in mind and dialed my shots in a bit, returns felt good."

Consistent with the rest of her playtest, Brittany loved dialing up the heat on her returns, making one of the best parts of her game even more threatening. She said, "Similar to groundstrokes, I loved to be aggressive with my returns. They were landing deep in the court and allowing me to be pretty offensive. On some harder hit first serves, I definitely had to add a little spin or go for a bigger target (sometimes just deep down the middle did the trick)."

With the new Pure Drive in his hands, Jason could utilize his aggressive baseline strategy to "grip it and rip it!" He said, "I loved going for big returns with this racquet. Did I hit more winners than usual? Yes! Did I also make more errors (usually long)? Also yes! But it was a lot of fun trying to be aggressive with the Pure Drive 2025, and I was getting pretty good depth when I was blocking back defensive returns."

Breakdown Summary