Breakdown

Groundstrokes: 8.3

During baseline rallies, our team clicked with the Vostra V7 immediately. This racquet was well within everyone's preferred spec range and had lots to offer our playtesters. For Oak, the Vostra V7 packed a whole lot of control into what seemed like a more power-based frame. He said, "This Vostra V7 was surprisingly controllable for a 100-square-inch hoop and such a thick beam. I found good, reliable depth and excellent directional control. This was a racquet that was easy to trust on my groundstrokes in general. I felt like the Vostra V7 was well balanced in terms of performance, never feeling like control was sacrificed for power, or vice versa. Despite being on the lighter end of the weight range, I found good stability at contact. Spec-wise, this Vostra V7 is very similar to a Pure Drive, with the key difference being its squared-off beam geometry compared to the Pure Drive’s rounded, more aerodynamic construction. With good maneuverability and excellent stability on contact, the Vostra V7 felt entirely conducive for how I like to construct points."

Brittany didn’t need an adjustment period and reveled in the Vostra V7's playable nature. She said, "Looking at the specs, I knew the Vostra V7 was right where I like a racquet to be. It was a smooth transition once on court, and I had no adjustment period. This racquet is fun to swing and can really generate racquet head speed, but it’s also very spin-friendly off both wings. I felt like it fit my modern game well. My one knock is that from time to time I was getting an inconsistent response from the stringbed, and I didn't know why. It was good at times, and without doing anything differently I would hit a better-than-expected shot with extra pace and spin. However, there were other times when I would launch the ball about a foot past the baseline without any reason. When playing matches, most of my errors came from missing deep."

Tiffani's baseline experience was quite pleasant, aside from a touch of instability. She explained, "Volkl made some big adjustments to this edition of the 7 series, so I was curious to see how the Vostra V7 would play. I knew it would be an easy adjustment as soon as I started rallying from the baseline. This V7 is one of those racquets that is easy to settle into, with a friendly set of specs that fit my intermediate game well. I found adequate spin for my game and could depend on topspin or slice when needed. My only minor complaint on groundstrokes is that it was a bit unstable when the ball hit in the upper end of the sweetspot. I could feel the wobble, but the racquet most often managed to send the ball back in the general direction I was aiming."

While Jason's topspin game was on point with this Vostra V7 in his hands, he found would have liked a little more consistency off the stringbed. He said, "Transitioning into this racquet from my own was pretty easy. I could generate good racquet head speed and get plenty of spin on my shots, which was necessary for me since shots hit in the sweetspot were a bit launchy. Being offensive and putting shots away was not a problem with this racquet."

Volleys: 8.5

Similar to its performance on groundstrokes, the Vostra V7 proved versatile and capable at the net. Tiffani experienced balanced performance across the board when at net, ultimately finding no issues with how this Vostra V7 volleyed. She said, "Once again, I found this Vostra V7 to be a well-rounded racquet. The blend of maneuverability, power and stability was right on for me at net. I'm not as comfortable at net as I am at the baseline, but this racquet was easy to count on. I could play my usual straightforward volley or mix in a bit of touch. I have no complaints at net!"

The Vostra V7 offered Jason good stability and maneuverability at net, although it lacked a bit in the feel department. He described, "I thought this racquet provided better stability than the Vostra V1 MP, especially up at net. What this racquet lacked for me was feel. It was too muted for my liking, so I felt a bit disconnected from my touch shots."

To her surprise, Brittany found incredible success with her net game while using the Vostra V7. She explained, "I was shocked to find that my favorite shot to hit was the volley. I played a mix of singles and doubles during this playtest, so I got to test out the V7 in numerous situations up at net. To start, I thought the racquet offered a great blend of maneuverability and stability. I liked the feel best up at net, and I had some great pick-ups and touch shots. I liked that I had the flexibility to punch volleys deep in the court or stay in a tough reflex volley rally. I actually really enjoyed practicing volleys with the V7 (something I don't say too often)."

Likewise, the Vostra V7 continued to excel for Oak when volleying. He said, "At net, I appreciated the generous sweetspot and the overarching feel that the Vostra V7 had. I felt comfortable utilizing both touch and heavier shots to maneuver my opponents around or off the court. Angled touch volleys were extremely satisfying, especially in dingles. I felt connected to the ball on the majority of my shots, and my recent tendency to rush the net more was working well with this racquet. On overheads, the Vostra V7 was maybe not quite as authoritative as I would've liked, so I opted for placement over power on most shots above the shoulder."

Serves: 8.5

Serves with the Vostra V7 were impressive for our entire team. The V7 earned high marks across the board thanks to its reliability. Oak reveled in the easy pace and depth he found from the Vostra V7, without trading away control. He said, "Serving with the Vostra V7 was a delightful experience. I was more than content with the blend of pace and precision I found, and I felt like the racquet had Pure Drive-esque levels of easy power, while actually having better control. My serves were landing deep in the service box and then jumping up with some extra pace and spin, which made serve-and-volleying much easier. My favorite serve had to be my flat or slice serve up the T on the ad side."

When serving, Brittany found incredible consistency and effectively targeted her spots to pull her opponents out of position. She said, "I preferred to serve over return with the Vostra V7 because I was able to control the response off the stringbed better. They weren't my fastest serves, but they had solid pace with good access to spin. When I did have to hit my second serve, I could utilize the spin to hit a neutral serve that bounced out of my opponent's strike zone."

Serve-wise, the Vostra V7 offered more pace than Jason was expecting, which combined nicely with its higher levels of spin. He described, "I was pleasantly surprised with how much pop I was able to get on my serves. The spin also helped guide the ball in on second serves. I was getting the same, if not slightly more, power with this racquet compared to my own."

Tiffani found the Vostra V7 well rounded and reliable when starting points. She said, “This Vostra V7 was well balanced on serve. I wasn't getting massive plow-through power, but it was plenty for me. I saw average to slightly above-average speed numbers on my first serves, and I could rely on my slice serve for my second. I wasn't blowing balls by anyone, but I still felt like this V7 more than got the job done on serves."

Returns: 8.1

The serve return is the one category where the Vostra V7's performance dropped ever so slightly, albeit only relative to its high performance in nearly every other area. Tiffani's returns had a tendency to sail deep, forcing her to up the spin to get the ball to dip back down into the court. She explained, "This Vostra V7 could be a bit flighty on returns, and there were times when I felt like my returns were getting away from me. I did prefer to be more aggressive with my returns, though. With that more aggressive swing, I was getting a bit more spin to help me keep the ball within the lines."

Jason also had issues with his returns flying long, but he was able to adapt successfully. He noted, "There were definitely a few times when my returns were well struck and flying 5 to 10 feet out of bounds because of the launchy nature of the stringbed, but I found nice angles with my returns as well as good side-to-side control."

Oak had a positive experience when returning serves, but he would have liked more accuracy to go after aggressive targets. He described, "Returns were pretty good, but not the most effective in terms of taking away 'plus-one' opportunities. Thankfully, I felt confident enough to swing out on forehand returns, which is always a plus for me. Slice returns and block-backs tended to be a little floaty, but that actually helped me recover to a more neutral position."

Although Brittany tends to favor her return with most racquets, this was one area where she felt slightly let down by the Vostra V7. She said, "Since my favorite shot to hit in general is the return, it hurt my heart a little that I didn't fully jell with the Vostra V7 in this area. I found I had to hold back a little bit and aim for bigger targets to get my percentage up. My most successful return was deep down the middle, which I hit mostly on first serve returns. I dabbled in slightly riskier targets on second serve returns, but I was still on the conservative side."

Breakdown Summary