30 years of success, 30 years of power, 30 years of blue. Babolat is this year celebrating 30 years of its iconic Pure Drive by offering a new design combining features of all the blues since the very first version in 1994.
After more than a century dedicated to the world of stringing and accessories, Babolat introduced its first range of tennis racquets. With its elliptical cross-section – the hallmark of its power – The Pure Drive revolutionised the traditional world of square cross-sectioned racquets.
The Pure Drive was updated in 1997 and won its first Grand Slam the following year with Carlos Moya's victory at the 1998 French Open. This success was just the start of a long series of victories on the courts achieved using a Pure Drive.
The Woofer system makes its first appearance: a special piece of plastic designed to create a piston-like effect on the string (the trampoline effect), making the frame and strings behave interactively when the ball is struck. It is with this racquet that Nicolas Escudé wins the Davis Cup against Leyton Hewitt, the world number one at the time, on grass in Australia with the French team in 2001.
It is with this model that Andy Roddick wins his first Grand Slam at the US Open in 2003. In 2004, he sets his record for his fastest serve with a serve of 249 km/h. This is still to this day one of the top five fastest ever serves in the history of tennis. Kim Clijsters wins the US Open the following year.
First appearance of the Cortex System: a revolutionary active technology located between the handle and the throat of the racquet. This technology filters vibrations, enabling only the types of vibrations useful to the game to be retained, thus providing an optimal striking feel.
Kim Clijsters wins both the 2009 and 2010 US Opens and the 2011 Australian Open with this model. Armed with her Pure Drive, Li Na becomes the first female Asian player in history to win a Grand Slam tournament with her victory at the French Open in 2011 in front of a television audience of over 400 million.
New version of the Cortex system: a vibration disperser 2.0. The colour is updated, with the racquet now featuring a gleaming black base colour with grey/blue aluminium details. Garbiñe Muguruza begins her career with this racquet. Roger Vasselin and Julien Benneteau win the men's doubles title at the 2014 French Open, each with a Pure Drive in their hands.
The world's first smart racquet, forever and always, and the embodiment of Babolat's constant innovation. This racquet made it possible to track the numbers of forehands and backhands and measure ball spin, ball strike location, everything, and all linked directly to a dedicated app.
Based on analysis of data from the preceding model, Babolat updated the racquet in 2015 by introducing a new string-spacing pattern better suited to players' sweet spots. Garbiñe Muguruza wins her first Grand Slam at the 2016 French Open with this racquet.
Two major improvements: Cortex Inside directly incorporated into the handle of the racquet; and SMAC, a technology from the aerospace industry that directly filters vibrations in the racquet's throat. Fabio Fognini wins the 2019 Monte-Carlo Masters 1000. Sofia Kenin wins the 2020 Australian Open with a Pure Drive in the colours of the flag of the United States.
SMAC 2.0 is unveiled. The 2021 Pure Drive features graduated shading expressing the game's powerful, explosive duality. Garbiñe Muguruza wins the year-end 2021 WTA Finals with this model. After an exceptional Australian Open in January 2024, Arthur Cazaux and Clara Burel become the very embodiment of the new generation of Pure Drive players.
Team Babolat pro players may play with a customized or different model than the equipment depicted.
