HEAD Radical MP 18x20 2025: Only at Tennis Express

The Head Radical MP 18x20 is a Tennis Express exclusive, and one of the most unusual frames on the wall: a lightweight, maneuverable racquet with a dense 18x20 pattern. It keeps the standard Radical MP's easy-swinging weight and thick variable beam, then swaps in a control pattern, without the dead, closed-off feel most 18x20s carry.

A Tennis Express exclusive

This one you can only get in one place. The Radical MP 18x20 is exclusive to Tennis Express, the only place to buy it in the United States, and it fills a gap the standard line leaves open. For more than ten years, the Radical MP has come with an open 16x19 pattern, so a dense-strung Radical MP has simply not existed at retail until now. It arrives in a bright fluorescent orange cosmetic.

The pattern has serious pedigree. The Radical is the line Andre Agassi and Andy Murray won Grand Slams with, and today Taylor Fritz carries it inside the top ten. Fritz and Zhizhen Zhang both compete on the ATP with an 18/20 Radical, so the dense pattern on this frame is not a novelty; it is the control setup tour players actually choose.

A rare thing: a maneuverable 18x20

Here is what makes this frame genuinely unusual. Almost every 18x20 on the market is a heavy player's frame, because a dense pattern is traditionally paired with mass and stability. Head's own dense patterns, the Speed Pro, the Gravity Pro, and the Prestige, are all heavier control racquets. The Radical MP 18x20 does something very few frames do: it puts a dense control pattern on a light, maneuverable, 10.6-ounce frame. If you want the placement of an 18x20 but the mobility of a modern all-court racquet, there is almost nothing else like it.

The 18x20 that doesn't play dead

The usual knock on an 18x20 is the feel. Dense patterns can play muted, dead, and closed-off, punishing anything but perfect contact. This one does not, and that surprised our testers most. Both came in wary, one openly hesitant after a bad past experience, and both came away won over. The thick variable beam and Auxetic 2.0 keep the frame lively and connected, so it plays closer to a 16x20 or an 18x19 than to a boardy 18x20.

Spencer, on the Radical MP 18x20

What the dense pattern changes

Everything else is the standard Radical MP: the same 98-inch head, 10.6 ounce weight, thick variable beam, and Auxetic 2.0. Only the string bed changes, and it changes the character. The 18x20 tightens directional control and flattens the launch, so the ball goes where you aim it and stays down, which is why the power rating drops to low. It also protects the strings, since a dense bed means less string movement, so a soft multifilament lasts noticeably longer.

How it plays

The Radical MP 18x20 plays like a control frame that forgot to be difficult. It rewards a player who supplies their own pace, and it hands back precision without asking for the compromises a dense pattern usually demands.

Control and accuracy

The reason to choose this frame is directional control. If you play the standard Radical and hit long, or you already generate plenty of power, the 18x20 dials in your control and accuracy. The tighter pattern gives you a flatter, more predictable flight and the confidence to attack a target rather than aim safe.

Your pace, placed

What our testers kept noticing is balance. The frame lets you create your own pace and then control it, so you do not feel pushed toward either extreme. It sits right in the middle, powerful enough to drive the ball with the thick beam behind it, controlled enough to place it, which is a hard combination to find in one racquet.

Alex, on the Radical MP 18x20

Maneuverable and lively

The maneuverable weight is the other half of the story. At 10.6 ounces, it is quick through the air and easy to bring up to the ball, a natural on returns, at the net and in doubles. Paired with the lively feel from the variable beam, it stays fun to hit rather than the chore a heavy 18x20 can become over three sets.

Strings and setup

The dense pattern makes this a great home for a softer string. If you like the comfort of a multifilament like Velocity but usually shred it, the 18x20 holds it together far longer, so you get comfort and control without icing your elbow after a match. A control co-poly works well too, and because the frame is already low-powered, you do not need to string tight, which keeps the feel and the arm-friendliness. It is a frame you can set up soft without losing the precision.

How it compares

The natural comparison is the standard Radical MP, the more powerful, spinnier, more forgiving 16x19; the pick if you want the racquet to help you. This one trades that help for control and a flatter ball. If you want more mass behind your control, the Radical Pro is the heavier player's frame. Against the market's other dense patterns, the Speed Pro, Gravity Pro, and Prestige, the MP 18x20 is the maneuverable, accessible alternative.

Who should swing it

The Radical MP 18x20 is for intermediate and advanced players who love the Radical but want more control, especially those who hit long with the standard frame or already produce their own power. It suits the complete, creative player who wants a frame that places the ball rather than launching it, and anyone who wants the precision of a dense pattern without giving up mobility, or soft strings that last.

Sam, on the Radical MP 18x20

If you need the frame to supply your power, or you want spin and easy depth, this is not the one, and the standard 16x19 Radical MP will serve you better. But if you have the game to drive the ball yourself and you have always wanted an 18x20 that stays light, lively, and forgiving, this Tennis Express exclusive is close to one of a kind.