This week at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, Babolat player Dominic Thiem took to the court with a new blank Babolat racket called the ProjectOne7 . What is this beauty?
In September 2017 the new Babolat Pure Strike 17 (One7) series will be released, for which the ProjectOne7 rackets were the pilot!
Last year during the same Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, Rafa Nadal appeared on court with a new blank frame from Babolat. Later in 2015, the release of the Babolat Pure Aero followed, the Spaniard's current racket and successor to the Babolat Aeropro Drive.
Now it's the turn of the current number 14 in the world, the Austrian Dominic Thiem, who normally plays with the Babolat Pure Strike . Does this mean that we will get a successor for the Pure Strike and Pure Control racket family on 1/7 and that both lines will merge into 1 new racket line? It could well be, the Pure Strike rackets are being put away online at bizarrely low prices, this to possibly make room for a new Babolat racket family.
Specifications of these Babolat ProjectOne7 rackets are not available, but various images show rackets with a 16/19 and 18/20 string pattern. So there will be different prototypes in circulation. The images attached here show frames with a 16/19 string pattern in any case. The shaft of the ProjectOne7 rackets:
The Babolat ProjectOne7 rackets have a beautiful slim shaft construction that is very similar to that of the Pure Strike rackets and less to the box-beam construction of the Pure Control series. However, small, subtle adjustments seem to have been made, especially in the curves of the shaft. Where Babolat knows how to serve the power and spin-oriented player like no other with its showpieces the Pure Aero and the Pure Drive series , it seems that with these ProjectOne7 rackets the player who is looking for a mix of control and power should also be able to succeed with the French brand.
Soon we will be able to test the ProjectOne7 rackets! Check myracket.nl and our facebook page regularly for updates! See here for our 2nd post about #projectone7 by Babolat, including the first racket specs!