About this Review: This review is my honest opinion of the racquet, which I tested for 5 days in September of 2022.

My take

The VCORE Pro 100 is another user-friendly, 100-square-inch racquet from Yonex. It leans more on the control and comfort side of things than the EZONE 100 or VCORE 100, and is great for intermediate to advanced players looking for a little help in harnessing their aggressive games.

About the racquet I own

• Model: Yonex VCORE Pro 100
• Grip Size: 4 ⅜ / EU 3
• String and Tension: Yonex Rexis Speed 130 56lbs
• Head size: 100in2
• Racquet Length: 27in

About me

• Height: 5’11”
• Weight: 185 lbs
• Previous Racquet Played With: Head Graphene 360+ Gravity MP
• Experience: 28 years of tennis
• NTRP/UTA Rating: 5.0

Test conditions

• When I tested this: September 2022
• Days tested: Five days
• Court Surfaces: Hard
• Match Play/Practice Session/Both: Both
• Where I’ve used it: Kingsford High School, Kingsford, MI

How it performs

What I was looking for

I’ve been playing with the Head Graphene 360+ Gravity MP for 15 months now and have little to no complaints about it. I’ve been a lifelong Head racquet fan and the Gravity MP is my favorite to date. My one small concern is that against heavy hitting opponents I need a bit more stability from the racquet. I have been testing racquets all summer in order to see if there is a racquet that offers a better combination of control, feel, easy spin, and stability than the Gravity MP. On paper, the Yonex VCORE Pro 97 looked like it may have what I need.

Why I chose this gear

As I mentioned in my review of the VCORE Pro 97 earlier this summer, the VCORE Pro line has a lot of similarities to the Gravity line from Head and the VCORE Pro 100 compares quite well to my Gravity MP. It offers a bit more mass at 300g unstrung but has a similar arm friendly flex and control oriented design. After a week with this racquet, it wasn’t enough to push the Gravity MP from my bag. The Gravity MP is a bit more responsive on serve and groundstrokes plusoffers more feedback on impact vs the more vague feel of the VCORE Pro 100.

What I love about it

• Maneuverability: With a 321RDC swingweight, the VCORE Pro 100 makes it easy to generate racquet head speed while on the run and also makes it easy to react to hard-hit balls at the net. I was confident in getting my racquet on the ball when stretched wide because it was easy to get the racquet into position.
• Volleys: The Yonex volley magic that I’ve found in all Yonex racquets I’ve tested this year was back with the VCORE Pro 100. The maneuverability, control, and more stability than the specs would suggest combine to make volleying downright easy with the VCORE Pro 100.
• Other: I said it with the VCORE Pro 97, and I will say it again here: the paint job on the VCORE lineup is fantastic. I love the green, blue, purple combo that looks modern and retro at the same time.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Power: The VCORE Pro line is the most control-focused of the three performance lines from Yonex and therefore shouldn’t be expected to generate a lot of power. For this new 2021 model, Yonex widened the beam width of the frame, which should have helped with both stability and power. Stability was solid, but the power was lacking, especially on serves and return of serves. I generate plenty of power on my own with just about every other racquet that I play with, but I was often leaving the ball short with the VCORE Pro 100 on returns and my serves were very average in terms of pop.
• Serves: As I mentioned above, I struggled on serves with the VCORE Pro 100. Control and placement were good to very good, but my serve consistently lacked the pop that I am used to generating which made first serves more returnable while my second serves were turning into an attackable liability.

Favorite moment with this gear

The Yonex VCORE Pro 100 was particularly impressive at the net. I don’t go to the net often, but when I do, I was able to hit any type of volley that I wanted with the VCORE Pro 100. Whether it was a firm, deep volley or a touch, drop volley they all came easy.

Value for the money vs. other options

Yonex racquets are generally priced higher than their competitors, but they still offer good value. The VCORE Pro 100 is $20 more than the Head Gravity MP that I currently use and $40–50 more than the similar Wilson Pro Staff 100 V13 and Babolat Pure Strike 100.

Final verdict

The Yonex VCORE Pro 100 is a control focused racquet that offers great maneuverability and above average stability for aggressive players looking to harness their power games. The 100-square-inch head size is more forgiving than others in the VCORE Pro line and offers a bit more power as well.