Wilson RF 01 Pro Tennis Racquet Review

The Wilson RF 01 Pro is the heaviest and most demanding frame in the RF Collection, and the one whose specs sit closest to Roger Federer's own. It is a leather-gripped 98 with real mass, real plow and a connected feel, and while it is unmistakably a player's frame, it is far easier to swing than the RF97 it succeeds.

The one closest to Roger

If the RF 01 is the Federer racquet for the rest of us, the Pro is the one for the devotees, the elite player and the Federer fan who wants the frame nearest to his personal preference. It carries a classic leather grip for a firm feel and extra feedback, and it plays like a proper tour frame. What surprised our testers, and reviewers everywhere, is how much more forgiving and fun it is than the Federer frames of old.

The headline is the weight, or rather the loss of it. The old RF97 Autograph was a 340-gram dinosaur, brutal to swing for three sets. The Pro trims roughly 20 grams and pairs that with a slightly bigger head and a variable beam, so it is much easier to whip through the zone and gives you real margin for error, while keeping the mass that makes it stable and authoritative.

Sam, on the RF 01 Pro

A modern layup on a classic weight

The Pro shares the collection's construction. The SABR dual taper beam, named for Federer's sneak-attack return, keeps a heavy frame swinging faster than its weight suggests, and the Glide Guard bumper cuts air resistance to help. Braid 45, an all-carbon braid, adds ball pocketing and stability; Feel Fill polyurethane foam dampens vibration for comfort, and FORTYFIVE carbon sheets steady the frame on off-center hits. It is a modern layup wrapped around a classic weight.

How the weight plays

The Pro plays like a player's frame that has been made kind. It leads with mass and stability, and a fluid, effortless ball once you time it, and it rewards clean contact with control and a touch more power than Federer's previous racquets.

Ground strokes that do the work

Get your timing right and the Pro does the heavy lifting. The mass drives through the ball for deep, fluid groundstrokes without a big effort, which encourages you to hold the baseline and let the frame work. It is the kind of racquet that makes a strong player feel like they can rally all day, since the frame's own weight supplies the pace. It flatters a clean, classical baseline game, and it holds its line beautifully when you drive through a two-handed backhand.

Suzy, on the RF 01 Pro

Stable, especially at the net

The extra head weight and stability make the Pro a superb volleying and defensive frame. It sits rock solid at the net, so when someone rips a passing shot at you, you can simply block it back with confidence, and it is a natural for the chip-and-charge, SABR-style return the whole line is named after. That stability under pace is a big part of the appeal for an advanced player.

Sam, on the RF 01 Pro

Smooth when you time it

The Pro asks for timing, and it pays it back. More than one tester came in intimidated by the weight and left with the Pro as their favorite, because when the timing is right it plays beautifully smooth, and it flatters a clean, early strike like an inside-out forehand on the rise. Be clear-eyed, though: the weight is demanding for a casual player, and it wants a real, committed swing.

Setup notes

The Pro is low-powered and control-first, and it already has mass for power, so string it for feel and comfort. A soft co-poly, or a hybrid with a multifilament, keeps a heavy control frame arm-friendly, and there is no need to string tight since the weight supplies the pace. Dropping the tension a touch opens up a little more pocketing without costing you control.

Pro, RF 01 or Future?

The Pro is the heaviest, most stable, and most demanding RF, the choice for a strong, advanced player who supplies their own pace and wants the frame closest to Federer's. If you want the same feel in a lighter, quicker, more forgiving package, read our take on the RF 01, and the RF 01 Future is lighter still. Against the field, the natural comparison is the Pro Staff RF97 it succeeds, and the other heavy control 98s like the Blade 98 and the EZONE 98 Tour, each of which trades a little of the Pro's leather-gripped, old-school feel for its own character.

Who it's built for

The RF 01 Pro is for advanced and elite players who want a stable, plowing control frame with feel and feedback. The weight and leather grip give it mass, net stability, and a connected response; the SABR beam keeps it swinging faster than the RF97, and it hands back fluid, easy depth to a player who can time the ball, with a little more power than Federer's old frames. For that player, it is one of the most rewarding control frames on the market.

If you cannot comfortably handle the weight over a full match, or you want easy, free power, this is the wrong RF, and the lighter RF 01 or RF 01 Future will serve you far better. But for a strong player chasing the closest thing to Federer's own racquet, made genuinely more playable, the Pro is a special frame.