Andy Roddick comes into the 2009 US Open at a crossroads of his career.

Roddick has played some great tennis this past summer and many believe the former US Open champion has revived his career. Much of this is due to the fact that Roddick has spent a great deal of time on his fitness.

On the other hand, the US Open marks the end of another season, as the prime of his career slowly slips away as he still looks to snap the longest US men’s Grand Slam drought in the open era.

At year’s end, he’ll be 27 years old. While he currently stands 5th in the world, three of the four ahead of him are four years younger or more. The other? Roger Federer, who has had a rebirth of his own to coincide with Roddick. In fact, Federer has been the thorn in his side for years.

Andy Roddick is at an inflection point as far as his career is concerned. The 2009 US Open could dictate where his career goes from here.

On one hand, he has seen the rebirth of his talents, leading him to arguably his best season in a while thanks to being as fit as he was when he won his only major in 2003.

At the same time, Roddick is aging and the clock is ticking on his career. His role in men’s tennis is crucial right now, as he’s really the only player who stands a chance to bring the US its first grand slam since Roddick captured the championship in 2003.

When looking at the rest of the top-5 players, aside from Roger Federer, they’re all at least three years younger than Roddick. There’s a good chance that each of these players will maintain his level of play, and quite possibly improve. With respect to Federer, it seems that he’s found his form once again.

Andy Roddick is at an inflection point as far as his career is concerned. The 2009 US Open could dictate where his career goes from here.

Roddick has played some great tennis this past summer and many believe the former US Open champion has revived his career. Much of this is due to the fact that Roddick has spent a great deal of time on his fitness.

On the other hand, the US Open marks the end of another season, as the prime of his career slowly slips away as he still looks to snap the longest US men’s Grand Slam drought in the open era.

At year’s end, he’ll be 27 years old. While he currently stands 5th in the world, three of the four ahead of him are four years younger or more. The other? Roger Federer, who has had a rebirth of his own to coincide with Roddick. In fact, Federer has been the thorn in his side for years.

For a “tweener” racquet (one in between a game performance and a casual one), the Head Liquidmetal 4 might be one of the best ones you can find. It has been on the market for a while now, but publications like Tennis Magazine still praise the Head Liquidmetal 4 as an Editor’s Choice racquet.

This racquet is ideally targeted at players between a 3.0 and 4.5 rating, so if you find yourself within that range, you may be interested in demoing or purchasing this racquet. While most racquets for players of this caliber are on the heavier side, the Liquidmetal 4′s weight is attractive to its owners.

Like all the Head Liquidmetal racquets, this one is very comfortable and easy to maneuver. You really feel in control of the ball coming off your racquet. The shock off the string bed many become used to with lower level racquets disappears with this one. The Head Liquidmetal 4 does a good job of being a true player-friendly racquet.



The Head Liquidmetal 8 is a great, oversized racquet that provides the player with a lot of control and useful power. Those players in the 2.0-4.0 level for tennis will instantly feel the difference in the Head Liquidmetal 8 than they would from a beginner’s racquet.

Weighing in at less than a pound, owners of the racquet can easily hit their shots early due to their success in executing fast swings with the racquet. Net play is just as easy, as the light weight once again lends itself well to volleys. A huge sweet spot on the racquet makes things less intimidating in an otherwise challenging situation.

While this racquet is suited for intermediate players, it lends itself well to advanced tactics, spin being one of them. This gives the racquet nice longevity, as it might take some time before a player grows out of it.

One of the reasons for the racquet’s spin-friendly architecture is Head’s Total Sweetspot Construction, which strategically places the strings at certain locations on the racquet head, making it very conducive to shots with spin on the ball.

This racquet has been around for several years now, but the Head Liquidmetal Radical remains a competitive racquet for intermediate and advanced players, and one version is actually used by the pros.

Those familiar with previous Radicals will notice this racquet is a little heavier than in the past. This is a welcomed change for us because the ground strokes feel a lot more comfortable. Actually, everything off the ground felt very comfortable with the Head Liquidmetal Radical. The feel on slices, top spins and volleys were all great and felt crisp with tons of control.

When serving, the Liquidmetal Radical mid-plus gave us excellent control over the ball, and each serve felt great coming off the racquet. Returning serves at high speeds was no problem either.

Overall, the comfort and feel the Head Liquidmetal Radical gives you, especially off the ground, explains the reason why this is one of the best-selling racquets of all-time. We recommend this to any strong intermediate or advanced player looking for a fair-priced option.

The Head Liquidmetal 4 is the ideal racquet for people who finds themselves on the border of intermediate and advanced player. While the racquet has been available for several years, it still wins accolades yearly, and was even selected as a top racquet by the esteemed tennis magazine.

Best suited for this racquet would be teens and adults between a 3.0 and 4.5, and the racquet’s flexible set of offerings facilitates much improvement in one’s game. Though most racquets for players of this level are heavier than racquets for beginners and intermediates, the Liquidmetal 4 is lighter, but not obnoxiously so.

Just like the other racquets in this series, the Liquidmetal 4 is lightweight and flexible. Owners of the racquet praise its control features, and there’s very little shock felt when the ball is hit compared to other competing racquets.

The power off the ground with the Head Liquidmetal 4 makes it easy for someone who might not have the fastest swing hit the ball deep. The large sweet spot also proved to be very forgiving.

For all around performance out of a player’s racquet, the Head Liquidmetal Instinct might be one of the best choices around. We found it had no true weaknesses, and plays just as well at net as it does from the baseline.

At a very light weight of roughly eleven ounces, the racquet was very easy to maneuver, but wasn’t flimsy like other racquets at that weight might be.

We loved the way the racquet connected with our strings, and we were able to place the ball around the court as well as any racquet lets us. While it’s light and it has a bigger head, in no way will it limit your game.

The power the racquet gives you is excellent as well. As far as our baseline game was concerned, our strokes had some great speed on the ball and we found our shots landing deep on the other side of the court. Serving was just as successful, and the control it gave us on our second serve was very comforting.