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Australian Open 2012 – 23 Jan Mon
Day 16
After a few racquets early in the morning we are quiet for most of the day. With most of the main draw players now out of the tournament we are really slowing down. The juniors and wheel chair players are the only ones dropping in racquets.
I am doing one racquet every 2 hours or so. There is no need for Red Bull. I did not buy it this morning. There are still a few cans in the fridge and I am sure that they will get me through the remainder of the tournament. I may need to stock up again if I start getting withdrawal headaches but that is unlikely.
I have my last racquet on the machine and am set for a 7.30 finish when we have a bunch of junior racquets dropped in. I am the only available stringer so the early night I had planned goes out the window. I leave at 9.45 and I have left 3 racquets for the morning. They were only dropped in at 8.30pm to be ready for 9am the next day. At Wimbledon they close the stringing room so any racquets not dropped in by a certain time are not accepted and the player must come back the next day to drop them off. We are a bit more flexible.
I get an early night. I’m not feeling as tired as I was last week.
Shane Mikic is the pro-shop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 17 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2012 US Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.
