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

My take

The Wilson Blade 100L V8 is an ideal racquet for improving players looking for control and racquet head speed for the modern game in a lighter package than most players' frames. It offers user-friendly access to spin and controllable power to help ambitious players take their games to the next level.

About the racquet I tested

• Model: Wilson Blade 100L V8
• Grip Size: 4 ⅜ / EU 3
• String and Tension: Wilson Sensation 16g 57lbs
• Head size: 100
• Racquet Length: 27
• Any Customizations: Tournagrip Overgrip

About me

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

Test conditions

• When I tested these: November 2022
• Days tested: 5
• Court Surfaces: Hard
• Match Play/Practice Session/Both: Both
• Where I’ve used it: Eastside Tennis Courts, Iron Mountain, MI

How it performs

What I was looking for

The Blade 100L V8 is a bit lighter than the racquets I typically play with, but it and others in the same category are racquets that I recommend for a wide range of players here at Curated. I wanted to play with a variety of these intermediate-range racquets so that I could have first-hand experience to recommend the best gear for our customers.

Why I chose to test this gear

The Wilson Blade 100L V8 is a more user-friendly version of one of the most popular modern player's racquets on the market. As such, it is a racquet that should appeal to a wide variety of players, from ambitious beginners to competitive intermediate players looking to keep advancing their games. It also is particularly well-suited to advanced junior players who need a lighter-weight racquet to match their strength levels. While it isn’t a racquet that I would personally play with at this point in my career, it is certainly an impressive option that I will continue recommending to Curated shoppers.

What I love about it

• Control: The Wilson Blade 100L V8 offers good control on a variety of shots thanks to a relatively tight string pattern in the center of the frame and easy access to spin to help keep the ball in the court.
• Feel: Despite a higher than I would prefer (70RA stiffness rating), the Blade 100L V8 offers a fairly comfortable feel and touch. I can feel the ball on my strings without a lot of harsh vibration I find in racquets of similar stiffness.
• Maneuverability: With a low 285g static weight and moderate 314RDC swingweight, the Blade 100L V8 offers great maneuverability at the net and on the run.
• Power: With that low swingweight, I can generate plenty of racquet head speed to produce power when needed. While it may not have the pure plow-through power of the 300-310g static-weight racquets I typically play with, I can find plenty of pace on my shots.
• Stability: The low static weight and moderate swingweight had me concerned about the stability that I would find with this racquet, but I was pleasantly surprised. I wouldn’t necessarily choose it when playing against hard-hitting 5.0-level players, but I never found stability to be an issue during most of my testing.
• Serves: With a forgiving sweet spot, great maneuverability, and controllable power, I found serving with the Blade 100L quite enjoyable. I hit my spots well and generate enough spin for effective kick serves.
• Volleys: The Wilson Blade 100L V8 was an easy racquet to venture to the net. There was enough pop to keep my volleys deep, and the maneuverability helped with reacting to hard passing shots.
• Ground Strokes: The controllable power and easy access to spin, thanks to high racquet head speed, made hitting groundstrokes a lot of fun with the Blade 100L. This racquet has a very small learning curve, so players of a wide range of abilities can pick it up and be comfortable without much adjustment.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Other: I think that the feel of this racquet was augmented by the fact that this demo was strung with a fairly soft multifilament string rather than a polyester string that I typically play with. I would recommend a similar string setup for most players because a polyester string will decrease the quality of the feel and increase the jarring nature of the stiff frame.

Favorite moment with this gear

While playing against my sister, Elina, I hit a particularly impressive sliding forehand down-the-line winner on a ball that she thought would be a winner for her. Thanks to the maneuverability and stability, I turned this point from a losing position into a clear winner.

Value for the money vs. other options

The Wilson Blade 100L V8 is competitively priced with other similar intermediate players racquets such as the Head Auxetic Speed Team 100 and Babolat Pure Strike 100 and represents a good value in the performance racquet market.

Final verdict

The Wilson Blade 100L V8 is a great option for improving players looking for a modern player's racquet with controllable power.