The Babolat Pure Drive Tennis Racquet has been around since the 1990s. Great players of the 90s such as Carlos Moya and Alex Corretja played with it. Also, World No. 1 Rafael Nadal started playing with it, only to change later to a very similar model, called Aero Drive.
It is a light and stiff racquet with a large head size and open string pattern, with a 33 cm balance point, so it is suitable to play with lots of spin, especially on clay.
It can also be used for other surfaces, although string tension would have to be adjusted to increase control.
Racquet Specifications
| Length | 69 cm (standard) |
| Head Size | 100 sq in |
| Weight (strung) | 318 g |
| Balance Point (strung) | 33 cm / 4 points HL |
| Stiffness | 71 RA |
| Beam | 23/26/23 |
| String Pattern | 16 x 19 |
Playtest
Playing with the Babolat Pure Drive is very easy, the ball moves with ease and is quite solid from the baseline if you play with spin.
It is also quite easy to place winners with precision due to its stiffness and medium weight. The power and maneuverability of this racquet are also ideal for aggressive returns.
Serves are fast and precise and allow good servers to be dominant when serving. Volleys are also easy to place and control due to the moderate weight and the ample head size.
Comfort and feel are the weakest points of this racquet, although they are better than with previous models, offering a more muted response.
To summarize, a powerful and maneuverable racquet to play the modern aggressive game.
Performance
| Power: |  (9 / 10) |
| Control: |  (7 / 10) |
| Maneuverability: |  (8 / 10) |
| Comfort/Feel: | (7 / 10) |
| Groundstrokes: | (9 / 10) |
| Serves: | (9 / 10) |
| Returns: | (8 / 10) |
| Volleys: | (7 / 10) |