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Buyer's guide Awaiting review 98 or 100 square inches: what the head size decides The most common fork in the road when buying a frame. What the two square inches actually buy, in the same numbers we score every racquet on. 1 min read 12 Sep 2026 Buyer's guide Awaiting review Polyester or multifilament: which string, and what it costs you The single decision that changes how a racquet plays more than the racquet does. What each material buys, what it costs, and who should be on which. 1 min read 11 Sep 2026 Interesting Awaiting review Are expensive racquets better? Price against score, 241 frames We hold a price and a score for 241 racquets, which is enough to ask the question properly. The correlation between the two is 0.35 — positive, and weak. Here is what that means before you spend €280. 2 min read 10 Sep 2026 Useful Awaiting review Swingweight: the number that decides how heavy a racquet feels Static weight is what the racquet weighs standing still. Swingweight is what it costs you to move it, and it is the better predictor of how a frame feels. We hold a figure for 65 of our 248 … 2 min read 9 Sep 2026 Useful Awaiting review Head-light, even or head-heavy: what the balance number means Two racquets of identical weight can feel nothing alike, and balance is usually why. Across the 248 frames we hold, balance runs from 29.5 to 37.5 cm — here is what that distance is measuring and what it … 2 min read 8 Sep 2026 Useful Awaiting review How much does a tennis racquet weigh? What 248 frames say The single number people ask about first, and the one most often quoted without a reference point. Here is the whole range across the 248 frames we hold a weight for, what the four bands are for, and … 2 min read 8 Sep 2026 Useful Awaiting review What string tension should I use? Start with your own frame Every frame carries a tension range, and almost nobody knows what to do with it. Across the 150 racquets we hold a printed range for, the low end has a median of 21.0 kg and the high end … 2 min read 8 Sep 2026 Useful Awaiting review What does it cost to restring a racquet? The string, by type A restring is two costs: the string and the stringer's time. The second varies by town; the first we can put real numbers on. Across the 70 strings we hold a price for, the listed pack runs from … 5 min read 7 Sep 2026 Buyer's guide Awaiting review Choosing a racquet with a sore arm: the softest frames we hold If your elbow complains, the frame is only part of the answer — but it is the part with a number on it. These are the softest racquets we hold, and the three changes that matter more than … 2 min read 7 Sep 2026 Buyer's guide Awaiting review 16×19 or 18×20: what the string pattern actually changes Two numbers on the throat of a frame, and the single biggest decision on the specification sheet. Here is what the pattern does to control, spin and power — measured across every racquet we hold. 1 min read 7 Sep 2026 Buyer's guide Awaiting review From a junior frame to an adult one: weight, balance and the step in between The move to a full-size frame goes wrong when it is made on head size alone. Weight and balance are what actually change, and there is a whole tier of adult frames built for exactly this step. 1 min read 7 Sep 2026 Useful Awaiting review How often to restring: the rule, the exceptions and the honest answer The rule of thumb, why it is wrong for anybody using polyester, and the three signs that the string bed has gone before the string has broken. 1 min read 7 Sep 2026 Useful Awaiting review RA on a spec sheet: what racquet stiffness actually tells you The number buyers ask about most and understand least. What RA measures, the range it runs in, and the three things it does not tell you. 1 min read 7 Sep 2026 Useful AI summary Awaiting review The tension range on the label is a limit, not a recommendation Manufacturers publish a window, not a setting. Ours run from 20 kg to 27 kg depending on the frame — and the useful number is somewhere inside yours. 1 min read · 1 source 3 Sep 2026 Useful AI summary Awaiting review How stiff is stiff? RA across the racquets we hold a figure for 87 of the 249 racquets in the catalogue carry a stiffness figure. They run from RA 55 to RA 72, and the average sits at 65. 2 min read · 1 source 3 Sep 2026 Latest news AI summary Awaiting review Alcaraz drops a set and moves on; Sabalenka needs barely an hour The defending champion beat Jaime Faria in four sets after losing the first; Aryna Sabalenka went through 6-1, 6-1. 1 min read · 1 source 3 Sep 2026 Latest news AI summary Awaiting review Three seeds gone in a day — and a lucky loser takes the biggest scalp Andrey Rublev, Brandon Nakashima and Rafael Jodar all went out, Jodar to lucky loser Bu Yunchaokete for the loss of five games. 1 min read · 1 source 3 Sep 2026 New products Awaiting review The US Open Blade costs €70 more. Every figure we hold is identical. The Blade 98 16×19 v10 US Open 2026 and the standard v10 match on head size, weight, balance, pattern and tension range. We have not had the US Open edition on the bench, and we say so. 1 min read · 1 source 2 Sep 2026 Buyer's guide AI summary Awaiting review Three 98s at three prices: Radical MP, EZONE 98 and VCORE 98 Same head size, same string pattern, €85 between the cheapest and the dearest. The specification sheet says where the money goes — and where it does not. 1 min read · 1 source 2 Sep 2026 No photo on file Latest news AI summary Awaiting review Monfils wins on his 40th birthday — the first to do it since Connors Gael Monfils beat Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 and became the first player aged 40 or over to win a US Open singles match since Jimmy Connors in 1992. 1 min read · 1 source 2 Sep 2026 Latest news AI summary Awaiting review Zverev survives Sonego in four hours and 53 minutes The top seed was two points from going out before beating Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-4 in the longest match of the opening days. 1 min read · 2 sources 2 Sep 2026 Latest news AI summary Awaiting review Rain pushes 14 first-round matches into Wednesday Heavy rain closed the outside courts and left a third of the first round unplayed; Madison Keys and Flavio Cobolli were among those who finished under a roof. 1 min read · 1 source 2 Sep 2026 Latest news Awaiting review Monday belongs to the defending champions Sabalenka opens the day session on Arthur Ashe against Camila Osorio, with Alcaraz following against Roman Safiullin. 1 min read 31 Aug 2026 Latest news Awaiting review Norrie and Krejcikova fall on the opening day Luca Van Assche knocks out the 29th seed in four sets; Kamilla Rakhimova takes out the former Wimbledon champion in straight sets. 1 min read 31 Aug 2026 Latest news Awaiting review Djokovic loses in the first round to Mariano Navone The four-time champion, chasing a record 25th major, goes out in five sets — his earliest Grand Slam exit in more than 20 years. 1 min read 31 Aug 2026 Latest news Awaiting review Day one round-up: Medvedev, Lehecka, Paul and Rinderknech advance A first-round sweep of the Sunday results, from Medvedev's straight-sets win over Hugo Gaston to Dino Prizmic's five-set survival. 1 min read 31 Aug 2026 Latest news Awaiting review Sinner's new Head Speed is on sale — its owner is not in the draw Head launched the Speed 2026 around Jannik Sinner in December after more than a year of blacked-out prototypes; a knee injury keeps the frame's headline endorser out of New York. 1 min read 30 Aug 2026 Latest news Awaiting review Sabalenka goes for a New York three-peat The world No. 1 has won 13 consecutive matches at Flushing Meadows and would be the first woman since Serena Williams to take three US Opens in a row. 1 min read 29 Aug 2026 Latest news Awaiting review Alcaraz defends his title after four months out with a wrist injury The champion has not played a competitive match since April; he opens against Roman Safiullin on Arthur Ashe. 1 min read 29 Aug 2026 Latest news Awaiting review Zverev leads the men's seeds, Sabalenka the women's, as the draw is set Sinner's withdrawal hands Zverev the top men's seeding ahead of defending champion Alcaraz; Sabalenka, Rybakina, Pegula and Gauff head the women's order. 1 min read 28 Aug 2026 Latest news Awaiting review Wawrinka gets a late wild card and draws Berrettini in his farewell slam The 2016 champion returns for a final US Open; Stan Wawrinka opens against Matteo Berrettini. 1 min read 27 Aug 2026 Latest news Awaiting review Rybakina, Swiatek and Gauff can all leave New York at No. 1 Rybakina starts the fortnight 434 points behind Sabalenka, with Swiatek and a Cincinnati-winning Gauff also holding paths to the top ranking. 1 min read 27 Aug 2026 Latest news Awaiting review Serena and Venus Williams take a doubles wild card The sisters play a Grand Slam together for the first time since 2022; Venus, 46, also has a singles wild card against Sofia Kenin. 1 min read 26 Aug 2026 Latest news Awaiting review Sinner withdraws from the US Open with a knee injury The world No. 1 misses a Grand Slam for the first time since 2019, and the men's seeding is redrawn around his absence. 1 min read 26 Aug 2026 Latest news Awaiting review US Open puts up a record $108m — and $140,000 for losing in round one The 2026 purse is the largest in Grand Slam history: singles champions take $5.5m, and every player in the main draw banks six figures. 1 min read 25 Aug 2026 Latest news Awaiting review Federer plays Arthur Ashe again — for one exhibition night only The five-time champion appears at Fan Week alongside Agassi, Roddick and McEnroe, and has categorically ruled out a competitive comeback. 1 min read 24 Aug 2026 New products Awaiting review The racquets of 2026, half a season in: new is not always better A mid-season read of the year's frames finds the Blade 98 and Pure Drive 100 improving on their predecessors — while two of the biggest spin updates are being outplayed by the models they replaced. 1 min read 23 Aug 2026