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Racquet Review: Babolat Pure Aero 98

Your Game

The most control-oriented member of the Aero family caters to aggressive ball-strikers who like to dictate points.

WATCH: Carlos Alcaraz has employed the Aero family of Babolat racquets throughout his rise up the ATP rankings.

Price: $279 ($559/pair)Head Size: 98 sq. In.Length: 27 in.Weight: 11.5 oz.Balance: 6 pts. HLSwingweight: 324RA Rating: 64Beam Width: 21 mm / 23 mm / 22 mmString Pattern: 16x20

What's New

The Pure Aero 98 replaces the outgoing VS model. It's more of a name change than an outright revamp, but there are some notable updates. For starters, the string spacing in the upper portion of the hoop has been tightened for enhanced command. Another notable change is the SMAC vibration dampening has been removed and replaced by NF2 Tech at 3 and 9 o'clock. It performs a similar function, but is made from flax fibers—commonly used in alpine skis—which is a more natural product designed to give better feel at contact. However, unlike the standard Pure Aero, it is absent from the handle. This gives users, typically more discerning players, heightened feedback. Along those same lines, the flex has been lowered from the VS model, improving comfort and ball connection.

What Works

When compared to the rest of the Aero family, the 98 has the smallest head, densest string pattern and thinnest beam. Which makes it the model with the greatest measure of control and versatility. But it's still an Aero, capable of producing a lively ball packed with pace and spin. It just requires more of a swing and cleaner contact from the user, which is something better players—the frame's target audience—will certainly appreciate.

The tighter string pattern and smaller head improve the targeting on serves and ground strokes, yet there's still enough inherent power to provide quick strike damage with either. The frame offers a confidence to go after the ball without a fear of overhitting that wasn't quite there with the previous VS, and certainly not so from the standard Pure Aero.

It's also perhaps the most comfortable, arm-friendly Aero. Maybe ever. The lowered flex can seemingly be felt at contact, which is not typical of this franchise. It also elicits more trusted feedback. There's a greater predictability of what to expect when the ball is struck off-center.

Another area of noted separation from the standard Pure Aero is at net. The heightened ball feel and softer flex lead to more versatile and controlled volleying. Same goes for touch and specialty shots; there's no limitations when it comes to taking pace off the ball, finding angles and employing guile.

As with the outgoing VS, the 98 will continue to be offered as a single or in matching pairs. The two matched racquets are intended to have a maximum weight variance of just 1 gram, well below industry standard. This is a welcome assurance for competitive players who generally require more than one frame.

What Needs Work

In most situations the frame's stability is on-point. However, there are instances when contact above the sweet spot draws flutter, and toward the edges can cause twisting. This is most noticeable when returning forceful shots from a compromised position. There's not a great deal of shock or discomfort, but the subsequent ball performance is certainly lesser. This is not entirely unexpected of a frame slotted into the player's category, but it might be something certain users need to address with added weight.

Also, depending on expectations, there's a chance this Pure Aero isn't Pure Aero enough. There's not the same help with pace and spin as the standard model, and there are other similarly spec'd 98s that also provide a bigger boost in both departments. It's designed to be the more restrained sibling in the family, but at times it could feel almost too contained.

Tester Feedback

"The lower-powered response of the 16x20 string bed produces a nice balance between bulldozer and race car."

"If you have a high racquet head speed from the baseline, the extra jump off the bounce was noticeable."

"My favorite Aero model to date."

Final Verdict

Babolat designed the Pure Aero 98 for aggressive players using spin for control and precision to dictate points. To that we say: mission accomplished.

What It's Like Inside A Pakistani Soccer Ball Factory In Sialkot

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Most of the world's soccer balls — nearly 70% — are made in one small city in Northern Pakistan.

Soccer ball production is a major source of income in the city of Sialkot, with at least 1,000 soccer ball factories employing nearly 60,000 people there.

But during the coronavirus pandemic, many closed down.

"The demand for footballs has dropped drastically due to the coronavirus because playgrounds are closed, there are no matches, people don't have the space to play it. So buyers have cut demand by 70%," said Waseem Shahbaz Lodhi, managing partner of Bola Gema Pakistan, a factory that produces 160,000 balls per month.

At Bola Gema Pakistan's factory, workers are responsible for all aspects of a soccer ball's creation, from cutting and molding sheets of hot rubber to patching together the 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons that comprise a ball's exterior.

"The industry has been around for nearly a century, and that's why our perfection of skills is amazing," Lodhi said. 

Kashif Khan/Abu Bakr for Business Insider Today

FIFA-approved balls like the ones Bola Gema makes can sell for over $100 in the US — more than the monthly wages of some workers who make them.

Ahead of the last World Cup in 2018, Pakistan exported more than 37 million soccer balls across the globe. And Bola Gema has already begun manufacturing balls ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

While business is down due to a stall in team sports during the pandemic, Lodhi has been looking out for his workers.

"We've been home for two to three months, but the owners of Bola Gema still paid us. So that's why we weren't worried," Saeeda Bibi, a Bola Gema factory worker, said.

The company also created a store where workers can buy household products at a discounted price.

The shop is made possible through a 10% premium on soccer balls sold to foreign buyers through the Fair Trade Association, Lodhi said. That 10% is taken back to provide lower prices at the store for Bola Gema employees.

As the pandemic drags on, Lodhi hopes that the soccer ball industry will bounce back.

"We are getting new inquiries, and we are hoping that despite the corona pandemic, we will start getting orders," he said. "And the production that fell by 70% will gradually start getting better, and we won't be forced to close the factory."

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