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Day 8 – US Open Thurs 25th Aug
In my dream last night I only had one leg. My left leg was a prosthetic but it was an inch shorter than my right leg. The fact that I wore Skins compression pants over the prosthetic leg meant that I didn’t get any pain in my hip from the difference in length.
We’ve just been told that we will probably have the day off on Saturday. Hurricane Irene will be hitting us, 10 inches of rain. Awe some.
I have only done 2 racquets this morning and it has started raining. This is not a good thing. When it rains we have to stay later. The longer it rains the later we have to stay. There are only a few machines in use at the moment. All play has stopped outside and it looks gloomy. We had a leak in our ceiling a couple of days ago. If it rains heavily I’m sure that leak will reappear. Water and electronic machines do not go well together.
It looks like I have the finger taping down pat now. My fingers feel 100%. I am using blister pads on the tops of my thumbs, index and fourth fingers. They stick well and do not get in the way. I tried using strapping tape in Melbourne but it was no good at all. It is sticky and catches the string. The best solution would probably be a player of superglue across the tops of my fingers. That way I wouldn’t have to reapply it each day. It would also be cheaper. These blister pads are expensive and don’t stick as well as super glue.
It is still raining. It has been raining most of the day. I have done about 10 racquets. They are now evacuating New York. It is a voluntary evacuation only. The media here are beating this thing up like it is going to be the biggest natural disaster ever. I have heard the phrase “could be a one in a 100 year event”. What ever. In the end it is going to be wet and a bit windy.
Wow there really is nothing happening today at all. I am on the 8pm shuttle back to the hotel. Half of the matches today have been cancelled because of the rain. We have done just over a hundred racquets for the day. On the same day last year we did 230. If it doesn’t rain tomorrow it means we are going to get smashed.
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 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 US Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.
