By Robert Martin

(December 27, 2011) It was the beginning of 2010 when the reigning US Open champion, Juan Martin del Potro, rolled into Melbourne with what appeared to be a new black and yellow racquet, this one named the Pro Tour BLX. It was designed as a baseliner’s alternative to the Six-One 95 BLX given its thicker beam width and more head heavy balance.

After a lengthy visit to the injured list that lasted until the end of September, he would give that racquet just two more matches before moving back to what appeared to be the same K-Six-One 95 that he had take the US Open with. As he fought his way back up the rankings in 2011 by moving well over 450 spots to finish the year at No. 11, he was one of the few top-tier players that was seen with “outdated” equipment.

Wilson hopes to change that with a new racquet for 2012, the Juice Pro BLX. While it remains to be seen whether or not del Potro will make an actual equipment change, and I have my doubts, the retail model left me intrigued.

As much as I hated the extremely dense pattern of the Pro Tour BLX, I felt that the frame itself had some potential for the players that like to blast ground strokes from the back of the court. The Juice Pro looked like it could answer some of these questions with a bit more weight at 11.4 ounces unstrung and a return to the 16x20 string pattern of the previous Pro Tour models.

Whether it was intentional or not, Wilson may have switched plans with the Pro Tour BLX, as the previous nCode and K-Factor versions used a 16x20 pattern in the US and a denser 18x20 pattern overseas, which is typical. With the BLX version, they were switched, with the US receiving the 18x20 and Europe going to the more open pattern.

After looking at the specs of the frame, I have to admit I was interested in whether it would be able to break my opinion of Wilson racquets on the serve as it had plenty of weight in the head and Wilson even opted to extend the frame to 27.25 inches. The demo that we received was a little on the heavier side of the tolerance, weighing 12.3 ounces strung with an overgrip and measured 6 points head light.

With a 24mm beam width, I was expecting a fairly stiff frame but I had hopes that the new AmpliFeel system that Wilson is introducing would be enough to deal with any possible discomfort. With this in mind, I strung up the demo with my typical hybrid of Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 1.24mm and Yonex Poly Tour Pro 1.25mm at 26/24kg.

Ground Strokes
The racquet says it is extended by a quarter of an inch, and it measures that way, but I did not notice it at all from the baseline. The weight and balance gave it a heavier feel and did make it a little slow on getting the frame moving on the forehand side.

This was both good and bad depending on the situation. From the back of the court, if I had time to set up and hit through the ball, I was rewarded with power that was easy to generate and good control, but if I was late or trying to whip over the ball to hit with greater spin, the racquet was not very forgiving.

On my compact, two-handed backhand, this frame was giving me more pace and depth with very little work. The frame did feel a little stiff on shots hit towards the sides of the head, but the resulting shot did not suffer as much as it would with a more demanding racquet.

The AmpliFeel system is a design in the handle that replaces some of the foam pallet material with graphite and basalt plates that isolate certain vibration frequencies. I do not believe that I would agree with Wilson that it provides “more feel” but it is a “different feel” in that off center hits do not feel quite as harsh, but at the same time, perfect shots feel more muted at the same time.

Volley
The Juice Pro BLX definitely felt like a baseliners frame when I made my way into the net. That same head weight that gives it stability and power from the back of the court gives the frame a sluggish feel when trying to get it into position on reaction shots.

On any ball that connected solidly with the strings, the results were great for pace and control, but outside of the sweet spot was another story. A few low volleys popped up way too far and high just because of the power of the frame itself.

Serve
This was the only place that I noticed the extra length of the frame, and only then because of my natural tendency to hit serves a bit higher than center on the string bed. I was surprised by how much I liked this racquet on the first serve as I was able to hit with good pace and I did not get the dead feel in the upper part of the strings.

It was important to take a relaxed swing and not try to force the racquet. By doing this, I was able to let the racquet head do some of the work for me, resulting in a lot of free points off the first serve.

On the second serve, the racquet head speed was not quite as good, which resulted in the occasional serve that could be attacked. By mixing up spins and targets, it was good enough to get me through, but the real strength was on the first.

Final Thoughts
Wilson made a number of significant improvements over the previous Pro Tour BLX, but I did not get a sense of the new AmpliFeel technology much. If anything, I was actually disappointed that the racquet felt a bit muted on shots hit in the sweet spot.

This is most likely part of the design, as a racquet designed for the power baseliner really does not have much need for touch. While it is not likely to wow anyone for its play at the net, it is a strong frame from behind the baseline if power is your game.

I would not say this is for everyone, but it’s a solid alternative to the Six-One 95 if you tend to stay back or want a bit more power from the frame.