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Australian Open 2012 – 11 Jan
Day 4 – Hail, Trophies and Exploding String
I start the day with a ham and cheese croissant a coffee again. Apparently we are having ham and cheese croissants brought in to the stringing room for lunch today. Croissants are a good thing.
Once again Melbourne has turned on the weather for us. Short bouts of vicious sunshine are punctuated by rain and hail. Even in the sun the temperature never gets above 18 degrees. It feels like I can get skin cancer and hypothermia at the same time. The wind is crazy . Cyclonic conditions. The temporary building we are in rattles and groans each time it is rocked by a huge gust. This is perfect tennis weather.
The first round of matches is scheduled for 10am but does not get underway until after 1pm. It rains intermittently throughout the afternoon and evening forcing the tournament organisers to cancel some of the matches.
On the first day of qualifying we would expect to be busy from early morning through to about lunch time as players get racquets strung just before their matches. The expected rush does not happen. The stringing room is quiet. It must be the rain. Or the hail. Hail is never a good thing.
With the start of matches today we have our first on-court racquet. It is one of Joe’s players. The racquet is back in the runner’s hand 14 minutes after it hits the front counter. He has strung it in around 10 minutes. I might have to drink more Red Bull to compete.
At the US Open last year we did 490 racquets in a day which is the most racquets that have been strung in a single day at a tournament. Wilson has had some commemorative plaques made up for all of the stringers involved at that tournament. We are presented with them today. It is a nice touch.
Towards the end of the day Goran drops a spool of string onto the floor. The spool breaks open and the string is everywhere. Two hundred metres of string sitting there in a great big mess of knots and tangles. Five minutes later the same thing happens to me. Fortunately I am able to find the centre of the string coil quickly so that it doesn’t become an unworkable mess. I should be getting paid extra for this.
I head back to the room around 9.30pm. Prince has erected a big sign in the foyer advertising their room number for players to collect their free gear. I toy with the idea of heading up there to score some free racquets but I am hungry. Nandos beckons.
Today was only a one Red Bull day. I won’t have to buy more on my way to the room tomorrow.
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.
