If you are a ‘glass is half full’ person, the Wilson BLX fared pretty well in this year’s French Open. Several players who wield the latest tennis racket technology from Wilson played deep into the tournament. On the other hand, if you are of the ‘glass is half empty’ mindset, the BLX hit a ceiling, unable to make it to either the finals in men’s or women’s singles. The perspective may also depend on whether or not you do PR for Wilson Sports.
No singles player wielding a BLX racket made it past the semifinals. The one who advanced the farthest was Roger Federer, who uses Wilson’s Pro Staff SIX.ONE 90 BLX racket. He lost in the seminfinals to top ranked player, Novak Djokovic. As for the women, Petra Kitova, who uses the Steam 100 BLX, lost in the semifinals to eventual champion, Maria Sharapova. This matchup drew a lot of fan interest since it was a rematch of the 2011 Wimbledon final, which Kitova won 6-3, 6-4.
As to whether or not these Wilson BLX rackets fared well depends on your perspective. From a more global standpoint, Federer and Kitova are the elite of the elite when compared to all who play tennis and played well to advance as far as they did. If your mindset is that no one remembers who got second place, then these performances are disappointing. The fourth round exit of Viktoria Azarenka, who uses the Wilson Juice 100 BLX, would seem to bolster that argument.
But is it really fair to put too much weight on the racket itself? Rafael Nadal dominates the French Open so much that the only way to make it fair would be to force him to use a frying pan as a racket. Federer has had a Hall of Fame career and is still someone you have to beat to win a major. Kitova may be on her way to a successful career as well. These all suggest that it’s more about the player than it is about the racket.
If you do PR work for Wilson, you don’t think that way. You want athletes who use their rackets like Federer, Azarenka or Kitova to play well, because it is great advertising for the brand. In reality, these players use a racket that feels comfortable and behaves the way they want it to. They probably could play well with any number of rackets, it’s just that they go with their preference.
Mohr than a shoe in.. 