A tennis racquet is essentially just an extension of your arm. Choosing a tennis racquet greatly depends on your skill level. For instance, a beginner will need to look for an improved racquet to further develop their stroke, while an intermediate player will look for a racquet that will help them win more games by primarily going for a racquet that will play to their strengths.

On the other hand, advanced players will have the most freedom when it comes to choosing a racquet as they have the experience and have been playing for years. Advanced players will look for a racquet that perfectly suits their playing style as well as their unique weaknesses and strengths. Below you will find the best tennis racquets for 2018 which are categorised for beginners, intermediates, and advanced tennis players.

Beginner Tennis Racquets

Babolat Drive 115 – This is a terrific option for beginners as it offers a larger head size, giving a bigger sweet spot, which makes it more forgiving when ground strokes are taken. Power and spin comes easily, and it makes it easier when volleying.

Wilson Ultra 108 – This is the perfect choice for club and recreational players who want the most out of their tennis session. Plenty of power and easy manoeuvrability, combined with a bigger sweet spot, will provide a phenomenal experience.

Wilson Hope Lite – This is a perfect racquet for beginners due to its lightweight and over-sized head. It plays quite smoothly and is extremely forgiving when you don’t hit the ball 100% thanks to the bigger sweet spot.

Intermediate Tennis Racquets

Babolat Drive Lite – This is a very user-friendly racquet which provides loads of speed along with easy acceleration. It is ideal for intermediate players, but beginners will also find it quite appealing. The Cortex system together with the Woofer technology will minimise vibrations and offer a lively and smooth feel.

Wilson Burn 100S – This racquet offers fantastic comfort from the baseline. It accelerates quite smoothly and is fairly powerful. Those with two-handed backhands will greatly appreciate the shaft, featuring increased feel and leverage.

Head Graphene Touch Instinct S – This racquet absorbs shock extremely well along with reduced vibration due to the Graphene material. It also offers a huge sweet spot and loads of power and manoeuvring.

Advanced Tennis Racquets

Wilson Blade 98 Countervail – This racquet offers a low, dampened vibration feel along with loads of spin and power, making it one of the best racquets for advanced players that want to dominate directly from the serve.

Babolat Pure Drive Wimbledon Edition – This is the perfect choice for intermediate and advanced tennis players. It provides fantastic control and power, which is vital for any baseline player. It’s also highly recommended as its one of the most user-friendly racquets currently available.

Wilson Pro Staff RF97 – This racquet provides a classic feel due to its thin leather grip and includes a braided graphite layout along with a light head balance. There’s a reason this racquet is used by Roger Federer as its one of the best on the market.

Currently, Wimbledon 2018 is on day five of the highly anticipated tennis tournament. Although, day five has held more shocking revelations and results that viewers were not expecting in the least. Despite the events of day five, Nick Kyrgios is still the leading name in headlines while Serena Williams alongside Roger Federer is gaining momentum in the courts during their spectacular and attention-grabbing matches.

Here are the top five events that happened on day five of Wimbledon

1. Roger Federer impresses the spectators against the match with Jan-Lennard Struff

All through this Wimbledon, Roger Federer has been impressing people left and right with his flawless skill on the court. It also seemed too flawless since no matter what the German native, Struff threw at Federer – he always seemed to have the best reaction. While the Swiss player, Federer needed another hour and 34 minutes to win the match, he seemed to be bouncing with excitement as he increased his ongoing winning streak to 29 during this Wimbledon.

2. Venus Williams is the latest tennis star to fall short during the tournament

During this year Wimbledon tournament, Venus Williams, Serena’s Williams sister who was another top seed has fallen out of the tournament. Meaning that currently, after Venus Williams fell out, eight out of the top 10 seed players in the women’s singles did not make it through the last 16. A former Aussie semi-finalist has commented on this development by stating that one of the major reason for this is due to the players not having adequate planning when the match isn’t going as desired. While Venus may be out of the Wimbledon, the other Williams sister, Serena is still in the competition.

3. Serena Williams is Showing Constant Improvement

While her competition may be falling behind, Serena is showing that she knew how to hold her own in a competition. Trough each one of her matches, she is showing that she definitely deserves her place as one of the higher level seeds in the tournament. Despite doing so well, Serena has commented that her making it to the round of 16 twice during the competition is not a bad deal. Although, the star player knows that she can do better if she tries a bit harder and pushes herself a bit more.

4. Serena Williams makes her way into the fourth round

As Wimbledon reaches its fifth day, the fourth round of matches is ending. While Williams is playing a singles woman match during this year’s tournament, she is becoming one of the few remaining as eight of the top ten has already been dropped. Williams other competition, such as the doubles matches with Cameron Norrie and Jay Clark. While the duo may not have been as successful as originally planned, watching them stay energised during a five-hour match proved to be one of the most exciting parts of day five.

5. Nick Kyrgios is the Headliner of the Day

During last year’s Wimbledon, Kyrgios caused a bit of online controversy due to his harsh remarks. The same behaviour is taking place this year as the player, he has received a code violation for using foul language, has been in a heated twitter exchanged against James Keothavong. Despite this, not much has been happening with the player as he awaits his next match.

Serena Williams has made waves throughout her career as a professional tennis player. She is internationally known and has an unofficial title of being a champion at her sport. Although, after taking some time off last year to have a baby and experience motherhood, Williams will be seeded 25th during the singles draw at Wimbledon according to an announcement made this previous Wednesday. The high status regarding the player was the only notable deviation from the seeding committee, which is compiled of the host and referee of the tournament, representatives of the Lawn Tennis Association, and representatives from the All England Club.

While the seeding is considerably higher than someone who has Williams word ranking, which is 183rd in the world, it can still bring along some demanding challenges for the returning tennis player. Seed who have ranked anywhere from 25th through 32nd are demanded to face one of the top eight seeds during the third round in a highly anticipated and randomized match. Currently, the top eight players are, Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki, Garbiñe Muguruza, Sloane Stephens, Elina Svitolina, Petra Kvitova, Carolina Garcia, and Karolina Pliskova.

Williams Not Expected to Beat Kvitova

Many are betting that Kvitova, a well-known Wimbledon champion in both 2011 and in 2014, Is the current favourite in who is estimated to win the tournament overall. Although, Williams is a second favourite and one player that will create an interesting match. If Williams was placed at a higher seed ranking, namely at 24th, she would have been forced to face the seed players that are ranked 9th through 16th in the third round. Although the drawing for this took place on Friday morning.

The Wimbledon seeding will start the following Monday, announced following the Grand Slam event making the announcement that they will begin to adopt more measures to protect female players during the seeding process after returning to the court after a break for giving birth. Despite this, many players have been on the fence if they truly believed that Williams deserved a place during the seeding process. This is accompanied by another pressing issue in the tennis world if pregnant players should have special accommodations when they step aside. Due to Williams taking time off she was dropped in her world ranking while also losing her first two tournaments. Although, at the French Open last month she played with her heart but sadly had to redraw from the tournament due to an injury she received.

While Williams will be forced to face a new challenge, if she wins or loses will be up in the air as the competition is fierce. Despite that, many players have voiced their opposition to her playing as they do not see it as far. Although, the committee has spoken out about their choice to seed Williams and expressed that the decision came from the committee wanting to create more balance as Williams has won Wimbledon in both 2015 and 2016 after her seed was adjusted.

Andy Murray accepted a Nature Valley International Wildcard wildcard as he continues his comeback after a hip injury that kept him out of action for almost a year. Murray suffered a loss in three sets as he returned on Tuesday to face Nick Kyrgios at Queens. After the match the three-time Grand Slam, 31-year-old champion said he was unsure of what would be the best way forward in his return. The Scot remained positive and said it was good to be back at Queens and that he was hoping to build on that in the next week.

Wimbledon starts on the 2nd of July and therefore the Nature Valley International held at Eastbourne is the final warm-up event available to Murray. He had surgery on his hip in January, and the former number one in the world has since moved the 156th on the rankings list. Before slipping to defeat, Murray was on the court for well over two-and-a-half hours in his match against Kyrgios. He is now looking forward to the opportunity to get more time on the grass courts.

Stan Wawrinka Also Accepted A Wildcard into Nature Valley International

Murray played in 2010 in the Davis Cup at Eastbourne and already knows that the facilities, as well as the courts, are excellent. Another former world number three has also accepted a wildcard into the events after suffering an injury, which is Stan Wawrinka. In the women’s event featuring Heather Watson and Johanna Konta, the top seed is Caroline Wozniacki the Australian Open Champion.

Murray to Experience the Competition Heat Once More Before Wimbledon.

According to BBC’s Russell Fuller, Andy Murray could have decided to play in one of the Wimbledon exhibition events, although he opted to accept the wildcard and play at Eastbourne. By playing in the Nature Valley International, Murray can look forward to playing a considerably weaker field. The top 20 players in the line-up are Diego Schwartzman and Kyle Edmund only, although all players who received entry are inside the top 60 of the world.

During the 2-hour 39-minute match against Kyrgios, Murray mentioned some stiffness in his lower back. He was positive that he could play the Nature Valley International at Eastbourne, but not yet at Wimbledon as in his opinion, five-set matches will be detrimental at this stage of his recovery.

Murray told reporters that Tuesday was an emotional day for him as he waited eleven months to return to the action, after losing to the Australian player Nick Kyrgios. Murray gives his recovery priority and has learned that taking care of his body comes first, and he has decided to do whatever it takes to look after his body to ensure a speedy and complete recovery.

Nadal entered the Phillipe-Chatrier court by acknowledging the screaming fans by dropping his bag, then taking off his jacket he did a little jig that previously had the full house crowd at his feet. Dominic Thiem broke Rafael with a forehand in round three and to his credit, he did bring his biggest shot to the game.

For Nadal or any other professional tennis player, winning 11 titles is not even a dream, it is simply unbelievable. Nadal raised his arms in celebration as he turned towards his team, it was indeed celebration time as the 2-hour 42-minute French Final ended.

Rafael suffered from cramps during the third set, which made victory so much sweeter, the cramps he explained, is what happens when you as a player are really pushed, in a match. In the final Nadal triumphed 6-4, 6-3 and 6-2 against Dominic Thiem.

Dominic Thiem Waited Since His 11th Birthday to Play Rafael Nadal in a Final

Played under heavy skies the final ended on a high note for the 32-year-old, while the 24-year-old Thiem continued to fight until the end. Dominic Thiem later told the press that he watched his first final on television when he was only 11 years old. He also watched the match in which Nada won his first Roland Garros title on television in 2005. It was his dream to one day, play a final against Rafael Nadal.

Dominic Thiem feels what Nadal achieved is amazing. In total, the Spaniard has 17 major crowns, each as special as the one before it and he wept as the 80-year-old legend, Ken Rosewell presented him the Coupe des Mousquetaires.

Rafael Nadal Applauded Dominic Thiem for Great Play

The eleventh time champion, Rafael Nadal went home with €2,200,000 for this victory, after he praised and applauded the young Dominic for great play. He also ensured the young opponent that he’ll be a big winner. Nadal shared that Dominic is not only a fantastic player he is even a greater person.
World number one Nadal earned his 17th grand slam, which only three adrift of that of the all-time men’s record holder Roger Federer. In Grand Slam totals the last six were win by either Federer or Nadal.

While Thiem had few answers to the brilliance of Nadal, the 7th seed used both his mental resilience and athleticism during the match, after he did show some nerves as he failed to find his rhythm in the opening game.

It is a race against time for Andy Murray after he had to pull out form another warm-up session this week, while Novak Djokovic also admitted that he too might have to miss out on this year’s event starting on the 2nd of July.

The Libema Open was supposed to be the big comeback for the Scot, although he had to withdraw again from the event in Hertogenbosch in Holland. It was the withdraw that Djokovic confessed that he might not be able to play on the grass this year, following being dumped out of the French Open by Marco Cecchinato.

Andy Murray has been out for the past year after he had hip surgery in January. He regretted not being able to play in Hertogenbosch as he was excited to finally play at the Libema Open, although he realised that he was still not ready to return yet. Murray wants to be 100% in shape when he returns and is still planning to play in the coming weeks.

Murray Hopefull to Participate at Fever Tree Championships

He is hoping to participate in the Fever Tree Championships starting next Monday at the Queens Club, which is the last event he could play, the only other alternative is Eastbourne, which is only one week before Wimbledon.

Neither Murray nor his team expected him to be out of tennis for almost a year, but recovery is slow, and now finally he is getting closer to participation, and hopefully, thousands of fans will see him back on the grass court this season. With his training schedule already planned, Murray had a bit of a setback in April, which delayed his practising on the court by over a month. Last year Murray had no choice but to pull out from the US Open, followed by the Brisbane International taking place in January and then the Australian Open since he had his operation in January in Melbourne.

Murray has not participated in an event since his last year’s quarter-final defeat by Sam Querry at Wimbledon which means he is no longer in the world top 150 after he had 42 weeks in number one, just before his hip injury worsened.

Depending on his progress over the next week, Murray might still decide to play at Eastbourne one week before Wimbledon to gain some competitive match time. In order to build-up his match fitness, he needs matches as he realises he won’t come back and start immediately where he left off. The only thing he can do is to listen to his body and let how he feels guide him as at the end of the day he is the only one that really knows how he feels.