Put the Babolat Pure Drive Roddick GT in your hands, and immediately you know it’s going to be a frame you can really whip through the hitting zone. The sleek, 100-sq. inch graphite/tungsten (GT) composite frame feels and appears to be an oversize racquet at first glance, but it packs a lot of punch into its size. It's had the feel of a much lighter-than-stock-listing 11.8 ounces.

Power on groundstrokes was a bit lacking, but control and liveliness more than make up for the difference. Find the core of this sweet spot, however, and this racquet is pure bliss. For a racquet so headlight, it's surprisingly resilient and superb on off-center hits (for all you heavy topspinners with a tendency to shank occasionally this is a nice feature).

 

True to its Babolat roots, this frame is one of the better spin-generating frames around, something novices or hardcore topspinners looking to amplify the heaviness of their strokes will find appealing. Still it more than holds it own when going toe-to-toe in flat exchanges.

 

Serves were - predictably since this is Andy Roddick’s frame - one of the really eye-opening aspects of this stick. Power serves felt effortless yet under control, even when trying to bust the radar. Control servers will appreciate the frame's ease of spin. Slices were especially wicked.

 

The urge with this racquet is to obviously try to drop in Roddick-like bombs (and it won’t disappoint in that regard). But the frame blends a remarkable amount of control-oriented features. Returns screamed off well-met swings, but it takes one to get it deep, especially for spin-lovers like myself. It's no trampoline, that's for sure.

 

Net players or flat baseline bashers will love the feather-light touch of the Roddick GT, but would be well advised to bulk up with some lead tape to add control. The lighter beam definitely aids those who have trouble getting their racquet around quickly on reflex volleys

 

The Pure Drive Roddick GT is a premier player’s frame, and definitely for players with long, fast and loopy swings. But this racquet in its many different forms has found a home with all levels because of the playability, and that says a lot. Roddick is known for the way his game oozes power and a lot of the credit has been given to this stick. But probably the most impressive claim this racquet can make is that it can keep all that power where it truly belongs...in the court.