The Rackets of Wimbledon 2026: Every Frame in the Last 32
By the end of the second round, Wimbledon has done its sorting. The qualifiers who caught fire, the seeds who survived the grass-court lottery, the wildcards playing the week of their lives — 32 men and 32 women remain in each draw, and every one of them walked on court with a racket they chose for a reason.
So we pulled the data. Every frame, every string, every tension we have on record for all 64 players still standing in the singles draws — from Jannik Sinner's famously board-tight 61 lbs to Lorenzo Sonego's trampoline at 42. Some of what we found confirms what you'd expect. A fair amount doesn't.
The brand race isn't what the shops tell you
Walk into any tennis retailer and Babolat owns the wall. Walk through the last 32 at Wimbledon and it's a different tournament entirely.
| Brand | Men's last 32 | Women's last 32 | Total (of 64) |
|---|---|---|---|
| HEAD | 9 | 11 | 20 |
| Yonex | 10 | 7 | 17 |
| Wilson | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| Babolat | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Tecnifibre | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Dunlop | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Unconfirmed | 0 | 1 | 1 |
HEAD and Yonex between them account for 37 of the 64 rackets left in the tournament — nearly six in ten. Babolat, the biggest-selling racket brand in the world, has eight. Just three of them are in the men's draw, and one of those belongs to Alexander Bublik, who plays the Pure Aero 98 roughly the way a jazz musician plays a standard: the frame is Babolat's, the interpretation is entirely his own.
The quieter story is Yonex actually edging HEAD in the men's draw, 10 to 9. A decade ago the Japanese brand was a niche choice with a funny-shaped head. Now the isometric frame is the plurality pick among the last 32 men at the sport's biggest tournament, carried there by Fonseca, Tiafoe, Hurkacz, Rinderknech and a wave of players in their early twenties who grew up watching it win Slams.
Zoom in from brands to actual platforms and it gets more concentrated still. Three racket families — the Wilson Blade, the HEAD Speed and the Yonex EZONE — account for 27 of the 64 players. If you've ever wondered whether the pros know something about those three frames that the marketing doesn't say, the answer appears to be yes.
The men's last 32, racket by racket
Listed in draw order. Where a player's "real" frame differs from the paint job — and it often does — we've noted the pro stock underneath. Tensions are in lbs, mains/crosses, from our most recent records; pros adjust by a pound or two with the weather, so treat them as home base rather than gospel.
| Player | Racket | Strings | Tension |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jannik Sinner [1] | HEAD Speed MP (pro stock TGT 301.4) | HEAD Hawk Touch 1.30 | 61 |
| Jenson Brooksby | Dunlop CX 200 (widely believed to be a Blade mold underneath) | Natural gut × Solinco Mach-10 | ~45 / 43 |
| Rafael Jódar [23] | HEAD Speed MP (pro stock TGT 339) | HEAD Lynx Tour | — |
| Shintaro Mochizuki | Yonex EZONE 100 | Natural gut × Poly Tour Strike | — |
| Hubert Hurkacz | Yonex VCORE 100 | Solinco Tour Bite × natural gut | 55 / 53 |
| Tommy Paul [21] | Babolat Pure Aero | RPM Blast × natural gut | 55 / 53 |
| Jan-Lennard Struff | Wilson Blade V9 (pro stock) | Luxilon Alu Power × natural gut | 53 / 51 |
| Daniil Medvedev [8] | Tecnifibre T-Fight 305 (95 sq in, 18x19) | Tecnifibre Razor Code Soft | 49 |
| Félix Auger-Aliassime [3] | Babolat Pure Aero (VS / Aero Storm mold) | RPM Blast Rough 1.30 | 51 |
| Michael Zheng | Yonex VCORE 98 | Poly Tour Pro × Poly Tour Spin | — |
| Alejandro Davidovich Fokina [22] | HEAD Radical Pro (pro stock) | HEAD Hawk Touch | 53 / 51 |
| Márton Fucsovics | Yonex EZONE DR98 (retail, 2016 model) | Poly Tour Pro 1.30 | ~46 |
| Roman Safiullin | HEAD Speed MP | HEAD Hawk | 52 |
| João Fonseca [24] | Yonex EZONE 98 | Poly Tour Strike | 50 / 48 |
| Arthur Rinderknech [25] | Yonex VCORE 100 | Poly Tour Pro | 52 / 50 |
| Novak Djokovic [7] | HEAD Speed (pro stock PT113B, 95 sq in 18x19, 27.1in) | VS natural gut × Alu Power Rough | 59 / 56 |
| Alex de Minaur [5] | Wilson Blade V9 (pro stock Steam 99 mold) | Luxilon 4G × Alu Power Rough | 52 / 50 |
| Zachary Svajda | Tecnifibre T-Fight 300S | Solinco Confidential × Ice Code | — |
| Karen Khachanov [19] | Wilson Blade V9 (H22 / "Python" 18x20) | Luxilon Alu Power | 53 / 49 |
| Flavio Cobolli [9] | HEAD Extreme MP (pro stock) | HEAD Lynx Tour | 52 / 50 |
| Grigor Dimitrov [WC] | Wilson Pro Staff 97 (18x17 pattern) | VS natural gut × Luxilon 4G | 56 / 54 |
| Matteo Berrettini | HEAD Extreme Tour (pro stock) | Signum Pro Firestorm | 55 / 53 |
| Zizou Bergs | Yonex VCORE 98 | Poly Tour Strike | — |
| Arthur Fery [WC] | Wilson (unreleased "Python" prototype) | Luxilon Alu Power | — |
| Taylor Fritz [6] | HEAD Radical MP (pro stock TGT 260.3) | Natural gut × HEAD Hawk | 55 / 52 |
| Lorenzo Sonego | Wilson Blade 98 (pro stock) | Luxilon Alu Power Soft | 42 |
| Frances Tiafoe [17] | Yonex VCORE Pro 97 | Poly Tour Pro 1.25 | 53 / 51 |
| Alexander Bublik [10] | Babolat Pure Aero 98 | RPM Blast | 53 / 51 |
| Jiří Lehečka [13] | Wilson Six One 95 | Luxilon Alu Power | 53 / 49 |
| Jaume Munar | Yonex EZONE 100 | Yonex Poly Tour Pro | — |
| Marcos Giron | Yonex Percept 100D | Poly Tour Pro | 52 / 50 |
| Alexander Zverev [2] | HEAD Gravity Tour (pro stock TGT 341.2, 18x20) | Hawk Touch × VS natural gut | 44 / 47 |
What jumps out
The tension spread is absurd. Sinner strings his mains at 61 lbs. Sonego, playing the same event on the same grass with a near-identical Wilson platform, strings at 42. That's a 19-pound gap — the difference between a snare drum and a hammock — and both men made the third round. If you needed proof that string tension is personal physiology rather than physics homework, here it is. Zverev is down at 44 with gut in the crosses; Brooksby around 45; Fucsovics at 46. The old rule that pros string tight died some time ago, but at this Wimbledon it's being buried in style.
Natural gut is having a very male renaissance. Nine of the 32 men — Djokovic, Zverev, Fritz, Dimitrov, Hurkacz, Paul, Struff, Brooksby and Mochizuki — have gut somewhere in the string bed. On low-bouncing grass, where points are shorter and feel matters more than durability, the hybrid maths tilts back toward the most old-fashioned material in tennis. Hold that thought for the women's table, because the contrast is stark.
The mid-size frame refuses to die. Medvedev's 95. Djokovic's 95 with an 18x19 pattern. Lehčka in a Six One 95 — a frame Roger Federer's generation made famous. Dimitrov's 97 with the frankly eccentric 18x17 pattern. The industry has spent fifteen years telling club players that 100 square inches is the sensible minimum; a decent chunk of the world's best disagree with their livelihoods.
Wilson has two prototypes in the last 32. Khachanov's "Blade" has long been an H22 variant, but his recent setup is built on Wilson's unreleased spin frame — working name Python — and British wildcard Arthur Fery appears to be playing the same unreleased mold. When a company seeds an unreleased frame with a top-20 power baseliner and a wildcard nobody's scouting, that's a launch coming.
The women's last 32, racket by racket
| Player | Racket | Strings | Tension |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aryna Sabalenka [1] | Wilson Blade V10 (older Blade pro stock, 18x20) | Alu Power × Luxilon Ace | 53 / 51 |
| Jeļena Ostapenko | Wilson Blade V9 (Steam / Blade Pro mold) | Luxilon Alu Power | 52 / 50 |
| Daria Kasatkina | HEAD Boom MP | HEAD Lynx Tour | 50 / 48 |
| Naomi Osaka [14] | Yonex EZONE 98 | Poly Tour Pro | 51 / 49 |
| Karolína Muchová [10] | HEAD Speed MP (TGT 301 variant) | HEAD Hawk Touch | 52 / 50 |
| Mananchaya Sawangkaew | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Nikola Bartůňková | Babolat (model unconfirmed) | Babolat | — |
| Barbora Krejčíková | Wilson Blade V9 | Luxilon Alu Power | 52 / 50 |
| Jessica Pegula [4] | Yonex EZONE 98 (2017 mold) | Poly Tour Pro | 52 / 50 |
| Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro | Babolat Pure Aero | RPM Blast | 52 / 50 |
| Ekaterina Alexandrova [18] | HEAD Speed MP | HEAD Hawk Touch | 52 |
| Iva Jovic [16] | HEAD Speed MP | HEAD Hawk Touch | 50 |
| Belinda Bencic [11] | Yonex EZONE 100 | Poly Tour Pro | 50 / 48 |
| Anna Kalinskaya [19] | Wilson Ultra 100 v5 | Luxilon Alu Power | 53 |
| Claire Liu | Babolat (model unconfirmed) | — | — |
| Coco Gauff [7] | HEAD Boom MP (pro stock PT339.2, 18x20) | Luxilon Alu Power | 52 / 50 |
| Daria Snigur | HEAD (model unconfirmed) | — | — |
| Ashlyn Krueger | Babolat Pure Drive | RPM Blast | 52 / 50 |
| Emma Navarro [23] | Yonex EZONE 98 (VCORE SV 98 mold) | Poly Tour Pro | 52 / 50 |
| Marta Kostyuk [12] | HEAD Speed MP | HEAD Hawk Touch | 50 |
| Jasmine Paolini [13] | Yonex VCORE 100 (2021 mold) | Poly Tour Pro | 50 / 48 |
| Maria Sakkari | Wilson Blade V9 | Luxilon Alu Power | 53 / 51 |
| Alexandra Eala [29] | Babolat Pure Aero (2023, retail) | RPM Blast | — |
| Iga Świątek [3] | Tecnifibre T-Fight 300 ISO | Razor Code White 1.20 | 53 |
| Amanda Anisimova [6] | Wilson Blade V10 (pro stock Steam 100 mold) | Luxilon Alu Power | 52 / 50 |
| Madison Keys [26] | Yonex EZONE 98+ (extended 27.25in) | Poly Tour Pro | 53 / 51 |
| Sorana Cîrstea [17] | HEAD Radical MP | HEAD Hawk Touch | 50 |
| Linda Nosková [9] | HEAD Boom MP (pro stock) | HEAD Lynx Tour | 50 / 48 |
| Liudmila Samsonova | HEAD Gravity MP (16x20) | HEAD Hawk Touch | 51 |
| Marie Bouzková [21] | HEAD Speed MP | HEAD Hawk Touch | 50 |
| Elise Mertens [25] | Tecnifibre T-Fight 300 | Razor Code | 52 |
| Elena Rybakina [2] | Yonex VCORE 100 (2018 SV mold) | Poly Tour Pro | 52 / 50 |
What jumps out
Full poly, wall to wall. Of the 28 women whose string setups we have on record, 27 play full polyester. The lone exception is Sabalenka — and even her hybrid is poly-on-poly, Alu Power mains with Luxilon Ace crosses. Not a single confirmed strand of natural gut in the women's last 32, against nine gut hybrids on the men's side. Part of it is sponsorship economics, part of it is stringing culture, but it remains one of the most consistent equipment splits between the tours — and nobody seems to talk about it.
HEAD's midweight frames are the WTA's default setting. Five of the women's last 32 play the Speed MP alone; add the Booms, Radicals and Gravitys and eleven of the 32 swing something from Austria. The Speed-plus-Hawk-Touch-at-50-lbs setup is so common in this field it's practically a uniform.
The Czech production line deserves its own article. Muchová, Krejčíková, Nosková, Bouzková, Bartůňková — five Czech women in the last 32, plus Lehečka on the men's side. A country of ten million people is out-producing entire continents, and its players' equipment choices (Blades and Booms, mostly) are as sensible as their footwork.
And the upset of the fortnight came from a retail racket. Alexandra Eala's win over Iga Świątek was the result nobody had on their card. The equipment note: Eala plays what is essentially an off-the-shelf Pure Aero with RPM Blast — the same setup a thousand junior players bought last month. Sometimes the racket really isn't the story.
Nobody plays what you can buy (almost)
The most persistent fiction in tennis equipment is the paint job, and this last 32 is a museum of them. Coco Gauff endorses the Boom MP; she plays an 18x20 pro stock (HEAD's PT339.2) that shares little with the retail frame beyond the stencil. Ostapenko and Anisimova both swing molds descended from the Wilson Steam 100 — a racket released around 2013 — under Blade paint. Rybakina's "VCORE 100" is the 2018 SV. Pegula's EZONE is the 2017 layup. Navarro's EZONE 98 is actually a VCORE SV 98. De Minaur's Blade is a Steam 99. Djokovic's Speed is a PT113B with a 95-inch head. Brooksby's Dunlop may well be a Wilson.
The pattern isn't cynicism, it's risk management. When a frame works at this level, you don't change it because marketing shipped a new cosmetic — you repaint the old one, for years, sometimes for a decade. Which makes the counter-examples oddly charming: Márton Fucsovics plays a genuinely retail 2016 EZONE DR98, no lead tape, and has said so himself. In a field of disguises, the Hungarian is the rare honest racket.
It also carries a practical lesson for the rest of us. The pros' loyalty is to a feel, not a release cycle — and feel is exactly what you can dial in yourself with string choice and tension long before you blame the frame. The player stringing at 42 lbs and the one at 61 both found their number by testing, not by copying anyone.
About this data
Setups come from the Racket Index pro equipment database, which tracks player gear from verified sources — stringing-room reports, manufacturer bundles, interviews and court-side photography — alongside best-available estimates where confirmation is thin. Tensions shift day to day with weather and surface; figures here are each player's most recently recorded baseline in lbs. A handful of players in this field (mostly qualifiers) have no reliable public record, and we've marked them unconfirmed rather than guessing. If you know something we don't, we genuinely want to hear it.
Want to see how your own setup compares to anyone in these tables? Every player here has a full profile in our pro setups database, and you can browse the frames themselves in the Gear Hub.
