Taylor Fritz is the newest member of the ATP Top Ten. Hitting a career-high ranking of number 8 in the world following a win in Tokyo this past weekend, the Indian Wells champion has his sights set on the World Tour Finals in Turin.
He would become this first American to qualify for this event in singles since John Isner in 2018. At only 24 years old, Fritz appears to have a bright future ahead of him.
Surely the pressure on him will increase, as the USA has been hungry for a new champion for quite some time. Ok, onto his racquet.
- Endorsed Racquet: Head Graphene 360+ Radical
- Actual Racquet: Head Innegra Radical MP (TGT 260.3)
- Strings: Natural Gut mains and Head Hawk crosses @ 52/50
What Racquet Does He Use?
Taylor endorses the Radical line from Head and has for the entirety of his career. Though his frames are painted like the current model – he’s even been spotted with the special edition “Team World” Laver Cup paint – but it’s an even older Radical underneath.
Fritz uses the TGT 260.3 which is the pro stock code for the Innegra Radical MP in 18×20 string pattern from way back in 2012.
Taylor has generally stuck with this frame for his entire career, though there are reports that he trialed some Wilson H22s back in 2015 or 2016. He also was testing string patterns from Head but may not have known it.
A stringer for a challenger in California had an interesting story: Taylor brought his racquets in and requested that two be strung a bit tighter because they felt different. He had two racquets in 18×20 pattern and two in 16×19 string pattern!
It’s intriguing and also fun to see a top 10 player who doesn’t seem all that observant or particular about gear. It just goes to show that ability is more important than equipment…as long as you’re not drastically changing equipment all the time.
What’s even more interesting than that story is Taylor’s racquet specs.
Specs
Taylor’s racquet is remarkably light for the pro tour, reportedly coming in at only 299g unstrung. His unstrung swingweight is 295, with a balance around 32.4cm.
This ends up around 321g, 330sw, and 33.4 cm balance strung up with an overgrip. Quite a light racquet as far as the professional men are concerned, but Taylor seems to be doing fine with it.
As for strings, Taylor uses natural gut mains and Head Hawk crosses at 52 and 50 pounds.
Recently, Denis Fabian of Head mentioned that they source gut for some of their pros including Fritz from Australia, so it’s likely Head-branded Klip natural gut. Klip makes a great natural gut, despite lacking the name recognition of something like Babolat VS.
Conclusion
It’s super cool to see a top 10 professional player using specs that are considered on the lighter side of retail racquets.
Yes, his swingweight isn’t super light, but it’s not beefy by any standards either. It’s basically a retail IG Radical MP with some lead under the bumper.
Taylor hasn’t changed his racquet since he came on the tour, maybe even since his junior days, and that’s probably his secret sauce.
Same racquet all the time, so he only has to focus on his game. It’s fun to see him find some success and gives me a bit of hope for American tennis!
If you’re interested in other ATP players’ racquets, I listed all the top 100 players’ racquets in this post.