Some observations from this year's US Open...

Tennis-Bargains is back from the first week at the US Open 2012 opening weekend!

A few notables US Open 2012 additions and changes we want to highlight for you below. Also, with some US Open insider's guide Part 1 and Part 2 with insights during qualifying week

Court 17 - The "New Grandstand"

• This is brand new and has a very wide bowl, with an interesting top-down seating layout. Definitely  need to check it out if you're at the Open.
• I would say it is my next favorite court (Grandstand, Armstrong, Court 17)...what I label the Trinity of Tennis Courts

Fans Welcome Weekend - Free Close-up Players Practice

• Got to see Roger Federer, Djokovic, Murray, Ferrer, Raonic, Nalbandian, Tsonga, Del Portro, Tipsarevic, Cilic, Monaco FOR FREE!!
• Yep, if you came to visit the US Open this past weekend, you got to see practically every male player in the Top 15 from about 20-30 feet away!
• On the women's side, we were able to see on these courts: Sharapova, Serena Williams, Clisters, Li Na, etc...

Top Food choice this year: Crepes

• About 3/4 the way down the row of the food court area - these crepes come in different meats (chicken, beef, pork, veggie, etc).
• Definitely would recommend trying one for about $11 for a relatively healthy yet tasty choice.
• My favorite, "Le Poulle": The Chicken Crepe ~$11 is one of the best meals on site - good to enjoy when watching a match on the new court 17. Check out this article/review from NY Times.

Thanks to all our fans (both new and old) who are following us!

Check out our YouTube Player Practice Videos and Twitter live feeds with updates about where/when to see your favorite players practicing!

Head Tennis Racket Models Compared - Speed vs Prestige vs Radical vs Instinct

Tennis Demo Program
Got these Head IG YouTek rackets in just 2-3 business days after ordering.

They give you about 10 days to ship it back with the FedEx labels neatly tucked in with the 4 rackets. The best thing was they include all of this in the $14.95 price!

I took the 4 rackets to the tennis practice wall to get some rapid testing started. Racquets were all in very new condition and strung with the similar hybrid set up with a polyester string on the Mains and Crosses were Head FXP.

The tensions for all rackets were relatively similar (mid-50 lbs range). This consistency makes all the difference when picking out demo rackets, plus have some of the most competitive prices.

Update: I have found that Midwest Sports does a much better job with demo quality and offers better prices than Tennis Express and Tennis Warehouse. See reviews for the Babolat 2017-2018 Pure Strike and Pure Drive

Head Tennis Models
Control (high to low):Prestige > Speed > Radical > Instinct > Extreme

Power (high to low):Extreme > Instinct > Radical > Speed > Prestige

Too Heavy? Too Light?
Want a something Slightly Lighter? Go with the "S" model.
Slight Heavier? Get the "Pro" or "Tour" model.

Racket Impressions

Head Speed MP 18x20

Speed MP 18x20 - see "Customer Reviews"
This racket felt just slightly longer than the standard 27 inch, coming in at 27.3 but you do not really notice too much of a problem when hitting groundstrokes.

See our full Head Graphene Speed MP Review

It has good stability and similar swing speed and weight as the LM Instinct. Easy to volley, had good feel and "pockets" the volley well without too much frame tilt on contact. Serve is good all around, as was the returns.

Playing with this racket in matches, it performed the best for my hitting style. If I had to switch rackets today, I would go with this racket - same model as used by Djokovic.

11/2014 Update: I am now using the Graphene Speed MP which is the standard 27 inches in length.

Our Top Head Tennis Racket

The swing weight of 315 makes even this 11.7 oz frame feel nimble. It rewards you for using a full swing at the ball, with an "L5" swing pattern (the larger the number the longer the swing). The beam is 20 mm in thickness so it is a bit thinner which a lot of big swingers tend to like.

Tennis-Bargains Rating: 4.5/5

...see more Head racket reviews - Prestige, Radical, Instinct below ...