The Best Racquets for All-Court Players

All-court players demand a lot from their racquets. So what exactly should you be looking for if you want to get the best out of your frame as an all-court player? In this article, we are going to discuss some of the best tennis racquets for all-court play, ranking them by level, from NTRP 3.5, or UTR 3, all the way to NTRP 5.0 and above!

The most important thing for all-court players is versatility. You need to find success from all areas of the court, and your racquet should too. Whatever racquet you choose will have to offer a clean balance of spin, control and speed. The tricky thing is that every all-court player will be looking for a different balance of these metrics. I think the key to finding what’s right for you is understanding what your base tendencies are.

Different Types of All-Court Players

While every all-court player is capable of finding success in all areas of the court, by definition, most of them started with another play style before developing the other parts of their game.

Consider Carlos Alcaraz.

As a junior, he earned most of his success on clay. He was an aggressive baseliner with a relatively poor serve, susceptible to constant breaks. Today, he’s constantly rushing the net, either behind his effective serve, huge forehand or his signature drop shot. I think it’s clear that he’s most comfortable at the baseline and that he’s learned to master skills in the forecourt to win more points. In my opinion, his racquet choice reflects that. He grew up using the Pure Aero, but as he got stronger and his game developed, he switched to the Pure Aero VS to gain more control, consistency and speed, something that helps him most when he’s mixing things up.

Another example is the King of All Court Tennis, Roger Federer.

He grew up playing tennis in the 90’s, a time where fast courts were ruled by serve and volley players. In his first win over Sampras at Wimbledon, he was constantly coming in behind his serve. When court speeds slowed in the early 2000’s, Federer’s baseline dominance came to the forefront. By the end of his career, he was using a 97 square inch frame, a huge departure from the 85 square inch racquet he started with. This bigger head helped him stay competitive, well into his 30’s with the greatest baseline players we’ve ever seen.

All-Court Racquet Preferences

This is to say, that there are different meta’s to the all-court player, there are baseliner builds and serve and volley builds, so I’ll be recommending options for both when applicable. The baseliner builds will emphasize power and spin, while the serve and volley builds will emphasize speed and control.

I also want to note that feel is tremendously important to all-court players, but I don’t think it’s fair for me to say some racquets have “bad” feel while others have “good” feel. Because of this, I’m also going to try to provide options for more muted feels, like those from Babolat or Yonex, as well as more connected, or responsive, feels, like many racquets from Head or Wilson.

Intermediate Players at NTRP 3.5+ or UTR 3+ 

For baseliner-types, my top recommendation is Yonex EZONE 100. This racquet features a more muted feel that is backed by class-leading stability and excellent power. The stability really comes in handy when it comes to blocking back returns or punching back volleys. The stringbed is also surprisingly control oriented, which helps you stay on the gas when you are trying to be aggressive and take control of the point. Slices knife surprisingly low for a 100 square inch racquet.

For those who find Yonex’s feel to be too disconnected, and want a racquet that offers a more responsive feel, look no further than the Head Extreme MP. The Extreme offers better spin and more speed through the court when compared to the EZONE 100, however, it does sacrifice some control due to the more open string pattern.

For the serve and volley build, I actually think that the EZONE 100 works really well here too. If you want something that offers a little bit more of a connected feel, the Radical MP is a deadly solution. It offers stellar control and surprising forgiveness outside the sweetspot for a 98 square inch racquet. I think it delivers more stability and forgiveness than similar offerings, like the Extreme Tour or the EZONE 98, however, the feel is not quite as plush and it's not quite as precise as those. That said, I think the forgiveness is a worthy trade off at the intermediate level, and it will help you win more points by getting those few extra shots in to play.

Experienced Players at NTRP 4.0+ or UTR 5+

I think the best choice for the baseliner build is the Yonex EZONE 98. The EZONE 98 is a best seller for a reason. Featuring fantastic access to power and spin from the thicker beam in the hoop and deadly control from the ultra-dense 16x19 string pattern, the EZONE 98 is well equipped to manage nearly any situation. It loves high swing speeds, so make sure to stay on the gas if you want your slices to knife through the court and your forehand drives to penetrate with power and spin. The tighter string pattern helps volleys stay under control at net and the stiffer layup of graphite makes it easy to punch volleys deep. One of the best things about the EZONE 98 is how fast it swings through the air. The immense maneuverability allows for a huge amount of creativity on court. For many, the main downside of the EZONE 98 is its muted feel.

It can feel disconnected, especially when paired with a muted string like Yonex Polytour Pro or Solinco Hyper-G, so if you are looking for something more raw, the Extreme Tour is a top tier choice. The Extreme Tour shines for all the same reasons that the EZONE 98 does. I think it's got a little more natural control because of the thinner beam and softer feeling flex in the hoop. I found that it actually seemed to work better for flatter hitters, despite the fact that it's marketed for spin. It flexes more into the court, so you get this sort of forward flying slingshot into the court. I think both of these racquets work pretty amazingly for serve and volley types as well.

I honestly couldn’t think of clearly better options at the 4.0 level, so I’d like to offer a few honorable mentions instead. In general, I think that players who find themselves at net regularly can benefit greatly from racquets with more weight in the handle, so I’m thinking about options in the 310-315g range. For the plusher choice, I think the VCORE Pro 97 310g is a great choice, and if you want something that’s a bit more connected, a bit more responsive, you should check out the Prostaff X.

Advanced Players at NTRP 4.5+ or UTR 7+

Starting with baseliner builds, I think the best choice is Prostaff 97. This has honestly aged to be one of my favourite stock racquets on the market. It was so easy for me to just pick up and play with, completely stock. Usually I need to add weight to feel as comfortable with the Prostaff 97 as I did. Looking back, I honestly think I under-hyped my initial review. This thing can bomb kick serves and snipe flat ones. The 97 square inch head keeps things super whippy so can rip on a ton of extra spin and just generally be super creative on court. The feel is very connected and quite responsive. It’s definitely not the most comfortable stick, and if you are looking for something that’s a bit more muted and softer feeling, the Yonex VCORE 95 is a glorious choice.

So now you’ve noticed I’ve mentioned Yonex in every category so far.  I swear this has nothing to do with them paying me, they literally don’t even reply to my DM’s on Instagram.

So the VCORE 95 is super versatile. It’s surprisingly easy to use, not only for a 95, but it's as easy to use as many 98s. I think a 4.0 player could definitely find success with it too, but I think it comes alive at higher levels. So far, the list is mostly filled with very fast feeling racquets and I think the VCORE 95 is the fastest feeling one yet. It’s got a thinner beam, some aerodynamic marketing bullshit and a tiny 95 square inch head which combined to minimize any drag through the air. The racquet is more than happy applying as much, or as little topspin and slice as you want. There is a ton of what I call “tip awareness” where it becomes very easy to feel and adjust the angle of your racquet face. And even on defense, I found this racquet surprisingly cooperative, I’d honestly say I’d prefer to use this racquet on defense to a lot of the other frames on the list. It’s one of the best frames to use for dipping angled passing shots and it loves playing touch games at net.

Again, I think these are stellar options for serve and volley types, so the honorable mentions will go to the VCORE Pro 97D, for the muted option, featuring a deadly tight and control oriented 18x20 pattern and heavy-weight worthy 320g static weight.

For those looking for a more responsive and connected feel, the Solinco Whiteout 18x20 with the customization buttcaps to add some extra weight for more stability on volleys is a great option if you can find one in your country. While I wouldn’t consider myself a total all-courter because my volleys do suck badly, I do want to disclose that this is my racquet of choice. I love this thing and it’s epic from the baseline as well.

Expert Players at NTRP 5.0+ or UTR 9+

It’s honestly tough to better than a lot of the racquets on this list. Like I genuinely think these are some of the best racquets you can buy full stop. I can’t even think of any better racquets. I can think of harder to use racquets, but I’m not sure I’d necessarily say that hard to use makes it better. So maybe we just need to talk about some honorable mentions that are all good racquets and should be considered, but can’t necessarily be defined as best.

• Dunlop CX200. Buy this if you want an Extreme Tour that feels like an IG Prestige Pro.

• Dunlop CX200 Tour. Buy this if you wish could get buy a PT57A.

• Head Prestige Tour. Buy this if you want something with mega swingweight straight out the box. (Formerly called the Prestige Pro).

• Wilson Clash 100. Buy this if you have terrible technique that causes you injury.

With that final insult, let us move on to plugging my consultation services. If you want to get personal with me, have a quick email chat and nerd out with me about your next racquet of choice, I offer racquet consultation services through my website. Link is in the description below and the proceeds go directly to me buying more stupid racquets to make reviews for you to watch.