The Top 7 Best Tennis Racquet Brands in 2022


When you’re just starting to play tennis, everything can be very overwhelming. There are so many rules, different shots you need to learn, different court types, and, above all, so much different equipment to choose from. There are different types of balls, shoes, strings, and racquets. On top of that, each racquet has different specifications like head size, tension, weight, and grip size – which makes the task of choosing a racquet very daunting for a beginner. 

When you’re shopping for racquets, you may be inclined to just choose whatever racquet is cheapest, but that may prove not to be a great idea. Besides your talent and hours of practice, a good racquet will make the greatest impact on your overall game. So when it comes time to buy a racquet, you want to make sure you buy a racquet from a good brand. 

The best tennis racket brands in 2021 are Dunlop, Prince, Tecnifibre, Yonex, Head, Babolat, and Wilson. When looking for the best tennis racquet brands, you should look for racquets that will last for a long time, give you control and power, be gentle on your body, and that will not become outdated.

You never want to purchase a racquet that will stop being manufactured any time soon, since it would be very hard to buy an extra one.

While you will see professional players using all sorts of different racquets, the truth is that all of them are manufactured by only 7 different brands. These brands have been around for a while, and are known to make high-quality racquets that are good for both professional players and beginners. So when choosing a racquet, you should stick to one of the 7 brands we will cover below. 

#7 – Dunlop

Dunlop Sports specializes in the manufacturing of golf and tennis equipment. The British company started as a manufacturer of rubber goods in 1889, and later entered the sports world. Dunlop entered the tennis market by manufacturing tennis balls, and even today, it is what it is most known for. 

Throughout the past decades, Dunlop rackets have lost market share to top brands like Head, Babolat, and Wilson, but it was a very prevalent brand in the past. Some of the tennis greatest legends used Dunlop racquets at their prime: Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Rod Laver, and John McEnroe. Currently, the most successful players who use Dunlop racquets are Kevin Anderson in singles and Jamie Murray in doubles. 

Currently, Dunlop has 3 main lines of racquets: CV, CX, and CZ Series. The CV Series is better suited for players who hit shots with topspin, the CX Series fits well for heavy hitters, and the CZ series are great for players who like to hit the ball flat. Prices for these racquets range from $169 to $229 each. 

#6 – Prince

Prince is a sports material manufacturer that focuses exclusively on tennis equipment. Prince is an American company, founded in 1970 in Princeton, New Jersey. Similarly to Dunlop, Price has lost a great deal of market share to Head, Wilson, and Babolat. 

In the past, players like Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova, Michael Chang, the Bryan Brothers, and Jennifer Capriati were sponsored by Prince, which brought the brand to the top. Currently, the most successful players to use Prince racquets are John Isner and Lucas Pouille.

Prince racquets are known to give players a lot of power (and not that much control), which is one of the reasons why the company may have lost market share. As tennis matches become longer and more physical, players need to maintain control throughout the match – which makes them look for other brands. 

Currently, Prince offers 5 different lines of racquets: Beast, Premier, Tour, Phantom, Attack, & Pink Series. Most of the new models range from $89 to $189. 

#5 – Technifibre

Technifibre is a French racquet brand that actually started as a manufacturer of tennis strings. The company started in 1983 and later moved into the tennis balls market, and eventually began making its own racquets in 2004. While the brand is relatively young compared to some of its competitors, it has been definitely gaining space among the top racquet brands. 

Recently, Technifibre moved into other racquet sports like Squash and Paddle as well. The most successful tennis players who use Technifibre racquets are Daniil Medvedev, Jeremy Chardy, Janko Tipsarevic, John Millman, and Denis Istomin. Aside from Daniil Medvedev, they are all players who are ranked usually between the top 30 and 100 of the ATP rankings. On the women’s side, the best Technifibre representative is Daria Kasatkina. 

Currently, Techinifibre offers 4 different lines of racquets, 3 of them geared towards male players and 1 towards females. The 3 racquet lines for males are the T-Fight, T-Flash, and T-Fit, while the 1 for females is the T-Rebound. The prices for the racquets range from $149 to $199.

#4 – Yonex

The main Asian tennis racquet brand is Yonex, a Japanese brand that has become increasingly popular in the last few years. The company actually began as a manufacturer of badminton racquets and in 1969 it began producing tennis racquets as well. 

Yonex first became popular when it signed contracts with tennis legends Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King. Some of the other successful players to represent Yonex were Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Richard Krajicek, Marcelo Rios, Ana Ivanovic & Lleyton Hewitt. 

While the brand has been represented by several successful players in the past, it was only recently that it became one of the mainstream rackets on tour. Currently, several of the top 100 players use Yonex racquets, including Stan Wawrinka, Denis Shapovalov, Nick Kyrgios, Frances Tiafoe, Naomi Osaka, Belinda Bencic, & Angelique Kerber.

In 2019, Yonex offers 5 different lines of racquets: Ezone, VCore Pro, VCore, Astrel, and Junior. Yonex racquets are known to give a lot of control and power at the same time, but players do need to have a “fast hand” and strong arms. Most Yonex racquets range from $169 to $239.

#3 – Head

Finally, Head is one of the “Big 3” when it comes to tennis racquets. The American-Dutch company manufactures equipment for a lot more sports than the others, including skiing, snowboarding, snorkeling, and swimming. The company began producing tennis racquets in 1960. 

The list of players who represented Head is much more extensive than all the other brands mentioned above. Some of the main names are John McEnroe, Arthur Ashe, Andre Agassi, Marat Safin, Gustavo Kuerten, Goran Ivanišević, Robin Soderling, among many others. 

Currently, a lot of the main players represent Head: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Mateo Berrettini, Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner, Diego Schwartzman, Gilles Simon, Bianca Andreescu, Coco Gauff, Ashleigh Barty, Maria Sharapova, & Sloane Stephens. 

Besides racquets, Head manufactures balls, shoes, bags, and strings. The main lines of Head racquets are Instinct, Gravity, Speed, Radical, and Extreme. Each line is very different from another and they can be used by all sorts of players. Most racquets range from $129 to $229. 

#2 – Babolat

Babolat started in France, also as a manufacturer of tennis strings. Babolat is actually a very old brand, with its start dating back to 1875. Babolat strings were adopted by some of the early French starts (Suzzane Lenglen, Henri Cochet), which propelled the brand into the center of the tennis world. 

In 1994, Babolat finally launched its first line of racquets, and, in 1998, Carlos Moya was the first person ever to win a Grand Slam tournament using a Babolat racquet. Since then, Babolat began making shoes and clothing, and several tennis stars began using the brand’s racquets: Andy Roddick, Fernando Gonzalez, Kim Clijsters, & Li Na. 

In the past, Babolat racquets have been used mostly by players who have clay as their favorite surface, since clay courts generally require players to use more topspin and Babolat racquets are perfect for that. However, since the game has become increasingly slower, with hard courts that allow the shots to bounce higher, Babolat is now seen as a good racquet for all surfaces. Currently, some of the main players who use Babolat racquets are Rafael Nadal, Felix-Auger Aliassime, Benoit Paire, Fabio Fognini, Dominic Thiem, Jack Sock, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Caroline Wozniacki, Kristina Pliskova, Johana Konta, and Garbine Muguruza. 

Babolat currently offers 3 main lines of racquets: Pure Aero, Pure Drive, and Pure Strike. These lines are geared towards high-performance or even intermediate players. The brand also offers 5 different lines for beginners: Strike, Aero, Evoke, Drive, and Pulsion. The latter lines are lighter and offer great head sizes, which allow for easier ball contact. Racquet prices range from $139 to $249.

#1 – Wilson

Finally, we consider the best tennis racquet brand to be Wilson, the Chicago based sporting goods company. Wilson works with several different sports besides tennis, including Basketball (Mr. Wilson!), Volleyball, Golf, Baseball, and Football. Wilson started in 1913 and has been growing ever since. 

Wilson racquets are overall very balanced, providing a great combination of power, control, and touch. Normally, players who use Wilson racquets are the ones who do not have a game style that requires a lot of topspin – since the racquets are not known for providing that. Some of the past tennis players who used Wilson racquets are Pete Sampras, Gaston Gaudio, Justine Henin, Stefan Edberg, Jimmy Connors, Chris Evert, Jim Courier, & Steffi Graff. 

Currently, the majority of players in the top 100 of the ATP and WTA use Wilson racquets, which says something about the quality of such racquets. Some of the most successful players to use Wilson are Roger Federer, Serena and Venus Williams, Juan Martin del Potro, David Goffin, Grigor Dimitrov, Gael Monfils, Kei Nishikori, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Petra Kvitova, & Simona Halep. 

Wilson offers 4 different main lines at the moment: Clash, Blade, Ultra, and Pro Staff. Most racquets range from $139 to $249 depending on the specifics.  

Conclusion

As you can see, there are several different brands of racquets you can choose from. We understand it can be overwhelming to choose a racquet, but as long as you stick to one of the brands mentioned above, you should know that you will have a good racquet in your hands. You will still need to decide on which specific racquet you want, so you should take into consideration your skill level, your budget, and your body. Normally, if you have a tennis shop near you, someone there will be able to give you further advice about which racquet to choose. 

You should know that most tennis shops allow customers to “test-drive” racquets. You would just need to leave some money as a security deposit, and you could leave with 3 or 4 racquets to try out. I definitely recommend you do that before choosing one. Based on what we have seen in 2019, you should expect to pay between $120 to $250 for a good racquet, so you want to make sure you’re getting a good bang for your buck. And as we mentioned earlier, your racquet will be one of the greatest influencing factors in your overall game. 

Below you will see a table that compares the top 7 best tennis racquet brands. 

Racquet BrandMain RacquetsPrice RangeMain Players
DunlopCV, CS, & CZ Series$169 to $229Kevin Anderson & Jamie Murray
PrinceBeast, Premier, Tour, Phantom, Attack, & Pink Series$89 to $189John Isner & Lucas Pouille
TechnifibreT-Fight, T-Flash, and T-Fit, & T-Rebound$149 to $199Daniil Medvedev, Jeremy Chardy, Janko Tipsarevic, John Millman, and Denis Istomin, & Daria Kasatkina
YonexEzone, VCore Pro, VCore, Astrel, & Junior$169 to $239Stan Wawrinka, Denis Shapovalov, Nick Kyrgios, Frances Tiafoe, Naomi Osaka, Belinda Bencic, & Angelique Kerber
HeadInstinct, Gravity, Speed, Radical, & Extreme$129 to $229Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Mateo Berrettini, Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner, Diego Schwartzman, Gilles Simon, Bianca Andreescu, Coco Gauff, Ashleigh Barty, Maria Sharapova, & Sloane Stephens
BabolatPure Aero, Pure Drive, Pure Strike, Strike, Aero, Evoke, Drive, & Pulsion$139 to $249Rafael Nadal, Felix-Auger Aliassime, Benoit Paire, Fabio Fognini, Dominic Thiem, Jack Sock, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Caroline Wozniacki, Kristina Pliskova, Johana Konta, and Garbine Muguruza
WilsonClash, Blade, Ultra, & Pro Staff$139 to $249Roger Federer, Serena and Venus Williams, Juan Martin del Potro, David Goffin, Grigor Dimitrov, Gael Monfils, Kei Nishikori, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Petra Kvitova, & Simona Halep

Gui Hadlich

I got a chance to play junior and professional tournaments across the world, and in 2015 I began playing as the #1 player for Pepperdine University, a great division 1 school. I’ve had the chance to play against great names of the new generation, like Christian Garin, Cameron Norrie, and Kyle Edmund. I’m extremely passionate about the mental and technical part of the game. Oh, and I had lunch with Brad Gilbert once.

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