Dunlop Aerogel 4D 100 Tennis Racquet Review
May 15th, 2011
This racquet should come with a warning tag. Something along the lines of “objects may be closer than they appear in the mirror” and/or “car is driven by a professional driver on a closed track-please do not try this at home in your living room”. Ya, I realize that last one is a little of a mix. But here is the deal. For a true 5.0 + player, with long swings and good fitness, and no history of arm problems, this racquet, if properly set up, may be an excellent choice. I can hear my 11th grade English teacher yelling at me about my use of commas here, but everything I have to say about this racquet is qualified.
When you pick this racquet up you can tell that it is serious equipment. It has a 90 square inch head, is the standard 27 inches long and weighs 11.6 ounces strung. It has a nice subdued cosmetic appearance, with black and gold being the predominate colors. It is thin beamed and has the nice Dunlop Hydramax Tour grip as standard equipment. Dunlop was not taking any half measures when they designed and manufactured this racquet. The thing looks and feels serious.
The Dunlop Aerogel 4D 100 is a throwback to the Wilson Pro Staff 85 Original that Sampras and Edberg used their whole careers. That is simply the truest comparison to be made and high praise in my mind. When you start hitting with this racquet it will become apparent that you have to generate significant racquet head speed on your own. Those little half speed warm-up swings will result in the ball feeling as it is falling or even diving off the strings.
The first couple of lessons I taught using this frame were just sketchy from the standpoint of being able to feed the ball or even rally softly. As soon as I was hitting with one of my adult tournament players or a good junior player I started really liking this frame.
You have to have an advanced game to get the full benefit of this frame. Long swings will work better than short swings, Eastern and slightly Western grip players will have a chance of liking this frame, players with extreme grips will hate life immediately upon trying this racquet. This is a racquet for players who generate pace on their own and whom are looking for pin point surgical control. If you hit the ball flat or with moderate top spin this frame might be a good fit. Players using big Western grips to create large topspin ball patterns should just stay away.
Serving was fun with this racquet. But off center serves were slow and hard to control. The sweet spot is a little longish and rectangular. You need to consistently center the ball to serve effectively with this racquet. I loved hitting my second serve with this racquet. I hit a top spin second with a fair amount of side spin, and it was really easy to get the ball moving sideways in the box. Slice and chip returns were also easy to hit, it was hard to hit full throated big returns with this racquet however.
I thought seriously about going to this frame, but I think it would have taken a lot of time and lead tape and testing string combinations to get the thing set up correctly. But for sure advanced players should at least test drive this frame. For an x number of advanced players this racquet may well be a perfect fit.
