Day 11 – Mon 17th Jan
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Have lost track of time. Had no idea what day it was until I checked my phone a minute ago. I wake up, quickly shower, and walk 10 minutes to the courts. Start stringing at 8am and stop around 10.30 or 11 each night. My feet are showing signs of wear. Not looking healthy. The knot of pain that was my neck a few days ago has gone now. Stretching during the day whenever possible seems to have worked. Cannot remember if I wrote an entry about yesterday. Spent hours on a stage, miked up and stringing for everyone to see and take pictures. Under 2 umbrellas but still got burned. Was sweating bullets. We did 378 rkts yesterday. That is the most the Wilson team has done in a single day. The room is a good mix of guys. Have laughed a lot over the last few days.
First day of main draw today. Apart from a few rkts in the morning I did not have many rkts of my own. A lot of my players lost early. Still spent the whole day stringing. 8am to 10.30pm. Was stringing everyone else’s rkts all day. Weaving felt good today. Very fast. Have a good rhythm going. Don’t think I have been this fast ever. Fingers still feel good.
There has been a crowd watching us the whole day. Like living in a fish bowl. We keep the windows closed for the most part. People taking photos all day with the flash on. Not sure how those pics are going to turn out. We have done well in excess of 300 rkts today. Early start tomorrow.
Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.
