(October 10, 2011) So since all of my typical testing time has been taken up by a special project that we will be releasing next week, today I decided to do something a little different. Instead of me jumping the gun on my upcoming review, we’re going to go a bit more in-depth into looking at the frames of last week’s winners on the ATP Tour.

Seeing as how three of the four ATP finalists were using Head racquets, it was only slightly surprising to see Head walk away with both titles. The biggest surprise of the week came when Andy Murray thoroughly wrecked havoc late in his match with World No. 2 Rafael Nadal. With that in mind, let’s get to our first winner, Tomas Berdych.

The quandary over Berdych’s racquet has been a bit problematic ever since his run to the Wimbledon final last year. Announcers, news reporters, and just about everyone else noticed that Berdych walked on court with a Dunlop bag, who was his current racquet sponsor, but appeared to play with a frame that looked suspiciously like the Head YouTek Radical MP.

This continued into 2011, where it was finally announced that Berdych had signed a deal with Head, but the manufacturer did not want him carrying the Radical line, competing with Andy Murray, so they needed a solution. They thought they had found the solution, attaching him to the most recent YouTek IG Instinct MP along with Maria Sharapova.

So to go along with the launch of the retail racquet, Berdych showed up in Montreal with racquets that looked like the Instinct. It would turn out to be a short-lived change, as he went switched back to the Radical appearance in his match with Roger Federer the next week in Cincinnati.

To shine a bit of light onto the racquet that Berdych is actually using, the proper name of the frame is the Head TGK 260.2. With this in mind, to me it makes more sense for Berdych to stick with the Radical colors, as the TGK 260.2 is the “pro stock” version of the YouTek Radical MP, using the same mold but with a more open 16x19 string pattern.

These TGK frames are made in the same factory as the retail models in China, but are made with higher grade raw materials and typically also at lighter weights than retail. The reason for the light weight is to allow the players, and importantly their crew, an easier base to work with in regards to customizing the racquets to the perfect weight and balance for each player.

Bernard Tomic also uses the TGK 260.2, but after finishing, his racquets will be much different in weight and balance than Berdych.

Things get even more complicated with Murray, who, according to Head, is using the YouTek Radical Pro. In fact, Murray spent years resisting the typical practice of putting new paint onto his old racquets like many pros, claiming that the different types of paint affected the way the frame played. Another classic example of this theory was Pete Sampras, who refused to accept new paint on his Wilson frames.

Until the start of 2008, Andy Murray would not deviate from the Head i.Radical, a frame introduced in 2001 and long discontinued by the time Murray would switch. One major difference with Murray’s i.Radical compared to the retail version, is that he had Head’s CAP grommets installed on his frame, presumably to add a bit of weight to the head of the racquet.

When Murray debuted with his new frame in Doha at the start of 2008, he had made the change to a new 16x19 string pattern compared to the 18x20 he had used on his previous racquet. It was originally thought that this change was to help soften the feel, as Murray missed a large part of 2007 after damaging tendons in his wrist.

In order to answer questions concerning the different string pattern from the retail model of the Radical, Head created the Pro version of the Radical series. This is listed with a 100 square inch head size and a 16x19 string pattern. It’s fairly obvious that Murray is not actually using the Radical Pro because the drilling pattern on his frames is different.

So it turns out that Murray is actually using the Head PT57A modified with a 16x19 string pattern. The PT57 mold is the same as the one that was originally used to make two highly popular racquets, the Trisys Radical made famous by Andre Agassi, as well as the Pro Tour 630, made famous by Gustavo Kuerten.

The difference between the PT57 frame and similar TGK models is that the PT frames are still manufactured at the facility in Austria, presumably to higher standards. Another glaring indicator that Murray is not playing with a stock Radical is that the CAP grommet remains, most likely the same one used for the YouTek Prestige Pro, which shares the same 98 square inch head size as the PT57 mold.

So why does Head not just market Andy Murray as using the Prestige Pro since it is the closest in appearance? Most likely it has to do with the fact that Murray has always maintained that Agassi was his tennis hero, and despite using other brands at times, the Radical line will almost always be immortalized by its connection to Agassi.

Photo Credits: Elsa / Getty Images
Mark Peterson / Corleve