As one of the most successful up-and-coming players on the tour right now, Felix Auger-Aliassime has enjoyed a splendid 2022 season. He finished the season in style, winning 3 straight tournaments in Florence, Antwerp, and Basel then capturing the Davis cup with his Canadian teammates.
At a sizeable 6’4” armed with powerful strokes and quality movement, Felix puts his opponents on defense from the first ball.
Coached by Toni Nadal, he’s poised to remain at the top of the men’s game for the next foreseeable decade.
Let’s take a dive into his equipment.
- Endorsed Racquet: Babolat Pure Aero 98 2023 (check price here)
- Actual Racquet: Babolat Pure Aero VS
- Strings: Babolat RPM Blast Rough 130 at 23 kilos
Babolat for Life
Though he’s switched clothing brands from Nike to Adidas, Felix has stayed with Babolat as his racquet sponsor for all of his professional career.
He played with the original red and black Pure Strike as a junior but has since switched to and stayed with the Pure Aero VS thata shares a mold with the old, discontinued Aero Storm racquet.
Felix endorsed the Pure Aero rather than the logical Pure Aero VS 2020, which is not the same as his Aero Storm mold, for the 2019 edition of Babolat’s spin-oriented silo, but seeing as the paintjobs are now uniform across the line, Felix’s endorsement of the Pure Aero 98 (the new name for the 2020 Pure Aero VS) is the closest to what he actually uses.
- A close-up of Felix’s Aero VS/Aero Storm pro stock in a special Roland Garros edition paintjob. We can see the trademark Aero throat and old Pure Storm box beam hoop that combined to form the Aero Storm mold, later used in the 2016 edition Pure Aero VS. Woofer grommets also provide evidence he is not using the racquet he endorses.
The Aero Storm mold is a great racquet for somebody like Felix. The racquet gears toward providing control and spin without being too light on power. With Felix’s long limbs and clean technique, he has no problem generating power on his own, so a racquet that can provide him control suits him well.
He must have chosen this frame out of personal preference, as the original strike also fits in a similar niche. Felix did spend time testing the 2020 edition of the Pure Aero VS mold in competition but ditched it to return to this frame.
Specs
A reputable pro tour stringer has shared Felix’s specs as:
- Strung mass: 330g
- Strung balance: 33 cm
- Strung swingweight: estimated 335
- These specs are estimated from provided unstrung measures with overgrip, and swingweight is not from the same source.
This just goes to show that a giant swingweight and ultra-heavy racquet are not required to produce some of the heaviest shots on the tour.
The relatively head heavy balance accounts for the lower mass for a professional player, allowing Felix enough weight behind his shots by putting more of it in the hoop.
Strings
The same stringer who served as a source for Felix’s specs reported that he strings his frames with Babolat RPM Blast Rough 16 at 23 Kilos. That’s not too surprising, as RPM Rough is a bit of a deader string, especially in the thicker gauges.
The trend on the tours has been toward lower tensions, and even though tall powerful players like Felix have been dropping their tensions with polyester for more feel while still maintaining control.
Conclusion
Felix Auger-Aliassime is one of the best players on the ATP right now and uses a racquet we used to be able to buy off the shelf. He adds a bit of weight to it, but it’s only about 330g strung up, similar to many modern players frames on the market.
His weapon of choice provides him with ample control over the ball so he can pummel his groundstrokes into the corners, bullying his opponent in the process. I don’t see him changing anything now that he’s solidly positioned in the top ten of the rankings.
He had a breakthrough year in 2022 where he won four titles and notched plenty of quality wins. He’s only twenty-two, so it’s hard to believe a grand slam WON’T come in his future!
If you’re interested in other ATP players’ racquets, I listed all the top 100 players’ racquets in this post.