US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 15

US Open Fri 2^nd September

This is my last day stringing. I am looking forward to having a couple of days off afterwards. There is lots of shopping to be done.

The morning is fairly busy. We have a steady stream of racquets leading up to the 11am start time. Zvonareva has decided to go back to the Gamma string she was using previously. This spells trouble. Once her match starts we are hit with a stream of on-court racquets from her. She sends in 4 for the match. All have broken at the grommets inside the tubing. There is nothing we can do about this.

The day slows down after lunch. There are still racquets for me to string but the urgency of the last few days is not there. I don’t have to string 4 racquets an hour. We are losing another 2 stringers today. It is Vasiliy’s last day as well.

Ron has started organising the team for the Australian Open. Everyone on the team here has been invited back for Australia. One or 2 of the Americans are undecided but the team will be essentially the same.

We saw the new Wilson range today. The new BLX’s have all undergone a cosmetic change. There are a couple of new models. The Wilson has also introduced a new handle system to the range to increase feel.

Before today the team had strung 2666 racquets for the tournament. I had strung just under 200 racquets. My fingers feel fine. The new taping has worked wonders. After the Australian Open in January my fingers were shedding skin for a month. Looking at my hands now it is like I have been on holidays for the last couple of weeks. They show no adverse signs.

I finish my last racquet just after 9pm and jump on the 9.30 shuttle with a few of the guys. We are off to get noodles. The restaurant closes at 10pm and we get there right on closing time. Tadashi manages to talk our way in. The noodles are great. One of the best meals I have had in New York.

I have 2 days to shop now. It hardly seems like enough time but I only have 8kg of baggage allowance to play with so it’s probably a good thing. I am looking forward to coming home.

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.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 14

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US Open Thursday 1^st September 2011

It started out as a busy morning today. Even though we are into the second round and the number of players has halved all stringers were working flat out leading up to the 11am matches. Players have a habit of dropping in racquets at very short notice. It’s not a problem to string a racquet quickly but scheduling the stringers can become tricky. If one of my players drops in a racquet and needs it back in 30 minutes but I am already stringing for another of my players my day gets really interesting. I have to work as quickly as I can on the current racquet so that I can get to the next one in time. During the morning session you really have to work as fast as possible even if you don’t have any racquets to follow because you never know when one of your players is going to walk through the door with a racquet for you. The quicker you have your machine clear the better.

I have had a few strings pop on me this week. This morning a set of 17 gauge gut broke as I was pulling tension. I have done a lot of Babolat and Wilson gut over the last 2 weeks with no problems. The gut this morning was Prince gut. It was perfectly clean and just snapped under tension about 2 mm in from the grommet. At the Australian open this year I had no issues with breakage at all. But this week it has been carnage. There were the Zvonoreva racquets yesterday. The day before that I had a set of unmarked poly break on the long side turnaround as I was halfway through the crosses. Some of the cheaper strings cannot handle the pattern we use. We never have breakage issues with Luxilon strings. They stand up to the pattern very well.

We had a lot of tour groups coming through the room today. We don’t have many groups coming through the room during the Australian Open because the setup there is much different.  It is open to the public for viewing.

I told my life story to a TV crew from the Tennis Channel. They interviewed Ron (who runs the team) about how the team works and then they interviewed me for about 10 minutes or so. The interview airs Friday on the Tennis Channel over here.

Today was supposed to be my last day but I have been asked to stay one more day. That only leaves me 2 full days of shopping here. I’m not sure that will be enough.

US Open Stringing Room - Day 12

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US Open Wed 30^th August 2011

Slow morning so far. Just a steady stream of racquets, then Zvonoreva sends in 3 on-courts at once. I get one of them. She uses a Prince Exo Black and Gamma Zo string. The string has been breaking at the grommets all tournament so we have tubing on all of the mains. Tubing an Exo is not the easiest thing to do. There are no traditional grommets to hold the tubing in place so keeping the tubing there while you tension the string is a fiddly exercise. As I am tensioning the 2^nd last main the string pops at the tension head.  Happy days. She has not given us any spare sets. Well at least she will get 2 of her racquets on time. We spend a few minutes hunting around for some string and find a spare set so I start again. The racquet is bagged 25 minutes after it came in the door.

Ten minutes later she sends back another which I get straight into. And then 5 minutes later she sends another. They have both broken at the top inside the tubing at the head. Ten minutes or so after sending those 2 out she sends back another. The break is in the same spot. There is nothing more we can do to stop the breakage. The string she is using just does not work with the racquet she is using. She has not sent any string in with the racquet. The runner has to go back to the court and get some more from her. As soon as I have the string I start again. As I pull the 4^th right main string it snaps inside the tubing. This is funny. We have no more string for her. Even if we did have string it wouldn’t do any good. By this stage she is serving for the match. We all sit and watch hoping that she closes it out. She always has issues with her string breaking at the grommets in her racquet. It is the string not the racquet that is the problem. After the match we do some racquets for her with different string.  That should fix the problem.

It is a quiet day. Only about 200 racquets. I spend most of the afternoon sitting around doing the occasional racquet. Ron goes around the room filming all of us stringing. In particular he is looking at our weaving techniques. There are a few different types of weaving. The technique I use is unusual so he has me go in slow motion and then super slow motion so he can see exactly what my hands are doing. Luis is the other guy on the team with a different weave. His hands move up and down like pistons. I could never learn that technique. Ron will be presenting a seminar on weaving techniques at the Grand Slam Stringers Symposium. So our techniques will all be analysed and critiqued.

I have to wait til last of the outside courts are finished before I can go home. They are done by 9.40 so I catch the 10pm shuttle and get home around 10.30. Pizza for dinner then I’m in bed catching up on some sleep. Tomorrow will be my last day stringing. I am looking forward to having a few days off before I fly home.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 12

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US Open Monday 28^th Aug 2011

490 racquets in one day!!! That is the most racquets strung in a single day at a Grand Slam event. It was fun and painful all at the same time. We knew it was going to be a busy day with the previous day cancelled due to the hurricane. We were all on the 7am shuttle bus out to the centre. We get there by 7.30 and then the fun starts. At 7.45 I am given 5 Head Prestiges due by 11.30. Easy. An hour later I am handed 4 racquets due for 10.30. The Prestiges are done quickly and I get started on the next 4 racquets. The player’s coach wants to check after the first one is done. This guy is notorious for never being happy with his restrings. He was happy with 31kg the on Saturday so I am doing it at the same tension. I hand it to him and he taps the strings. Far too loose.Far too loose. His player will not be happy. I reassure him that it is exactly the same as the racquet I did for him on Saturday that he was happy with. I know it is exactly the same because I have not missed a beat all week. I have been stringing multiple frames for players and they have all been done perfectly. Every multiple set of racquets pings exactly the same. We have a guy here checking every set to make sure they are all exactly the same. There has not been a problem with my restrings once. The machine has been checked and calibrated, the clamps have been cleaned and are not slipping and to cap it off I am the most pedantic person I know. I know this racquet is exactly the same as the other. This guy is mental. Nevertheless he wants it tighter. Without hitting a ball he decides it has to be tighter. The strings are cut and I now still have 4 racquets to string by 10.30. We up the tension to 32kg.

Another 2 racquets come in for me as I am doing these. I quickly get through the 4 Diablos and start on the next set. Just as I am finishing them we get an on-court call. Guess who wants his strings looser? Too funny.We drop the tension to 30kg for the on-court. He loses in straight sets.

By 1pm I have done 17 racquets and I have another 5 lined up all due at 30 minute intervals. We have 16 machines in the room and every one of them has been going flat out since we started this morning. I am really enjoying this.

I finally get a chance for a quick break around 4pm. 10 minutes for food then straight back to the machine. The racquets don’t stop all day. It is just frantic. I have lost count of how many racquets I have done. It doesn’t matter.  The matches are finishing up early tonight so most of us get on the 11.30pm shuttle. The end of the day can’t come soon enough. By this stage I am ready for bed. The head cold is still messing with me.

 In Melbourne this year we did 378 racquets in a day which was our record up to that point. We have just blown that out of the water. If only we were getting paid by the racquet.

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.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 11

Day 11 - US Open Sun 28^th Aug 2011

I wake up around 9am. I have slept for 17 hours. I feel average. I need fruit. There is none. I have no energy. I stay in bed for another 5 hours. I look bad and sound worse. I go out in search of food. A few of the cafes close to our hotel are open. I order an omelette. Jelena Jankovic is there with her coach. Brad Gilbert is also there. I would recommend the omelette but suspect they would recoil in fear if I came close.

I go back to the room and stay in bed the rest of the day. Everyone is going out for sushi for dinner. I skip it. I need rest.

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.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 10

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Day 10 - US Open Sat 27^th August 2011

No one really knows what is going on with the hurricane coming. All public transport stops operating from midday. This means that the shuttle buses are our only way to and from the centre. If we miss the last shuttle bus then we will be stranded at the centre. The morning shuttle bus driver has told us that all bridges and tunnels are closing at 3pm. Everything will be closed on Sunday. New York is shutting down. This is not ideal. Sunday is our biggest day. In Melbourne this year we did 378 racquets on the Sunday. We would expect a similar number here. To make things worse we are only going to be operating for half a day today.

I arrive in the morning to find that the 5 racquets I have due has become 7. I really need to motor. With the main draw players arriving we are starting to see a lot of multiple frames dropped off. Players are dropping off 3 to 6 frames at time. This is not great. When we string multiple frames they have to all be done at the same time to ensure that they are all the same. So when a player drops off 6 frames it puts the stringer out of action for an extended period of time.

In half a day of work we do 200 frames. The racquets just keep coming. Some of the players are asking for Sunday morning collection. They haven’t heard that there is no tennis on Sunday.

The last shuttle leaves at 3pm. We are on it. We have covered all of the machines in plastic in case we have water in the stringing room. We get back to the room around 3.30. I go to bed straight away and don’t wake up until 9am the next day.

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.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 10

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Day 9 - US Open Fri 26^th Aug 2011

Busy day.  A lot of the main draw players are starting to arrive. We did around 250 racquets.  It is more than we did the same time last year. All up we have done 1050 for the tournament so far. I have been given Xavier Malisse to string for. This is going to keep me busy. He gets a lot of racquets strung. He strings at a very tension with Babolat Fibre tour which is a very stretchy nylon multifilament. He also likes his racquets to be strung in the morning. As a stringer this makes your life hard. Each morning before you even get hit with players wanting their racquets just before their match, you still have the backlog to clear from the night before. When I go in tomorrow morning I will have 5 racquets to get through before 10am. Busy morning.

I had my first on-court racquet today. It was a Prince Exo3 Tour with Big Banger Original. I had it strung in 11 minutes and it was out the door 16 minutes after it came in. Not world record speed but fast enough.

Everything is shutting down with the hurricane coming. We have been told that the tennis centre will close before 5pm tomorrow. The last shuttle bus will be at 5pm. We will not be finished by then. Peak hour for us is usually 4pm – 8pm. Everything will be closed on Sunday. This means we will have a huge backlog waiting for us on Monday morning. The shuttle buses start at 8am so we will have to catch the train in. A 6am train might not be out of the question.

I feel ordinary. The nights of no sleep have caught up with me. I am battling a head cold. Not fun. I will have to stock up on food from the café tomorrow before we head home.

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.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 8

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Day 8 - US Open Thurs 25^th 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.

 

US Open Stringingoom - Day 7

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Day 7 - Wed 24^th August 2011

My new cutters have tasted blood. I returned from breakfast to find a racquet waiting for me and due to be picked up in 10 minutes. I cut the string a little too hastily and went through my finger. One of the downsides of cutters with razor sharp tips is that they go through skin with ease. My old cutters have blunt tips but they don’t give the sort of finish on the string tip that I like. So there I am stringing away bleeding all over the place but I didn’t have time to stop. One of the guys patched me up while I was stringing. Great start to the day.

We have been busy in patches today.  We work hard for a bit then get to chill out. At 11.55am 2 racquets came in for me which were due in an hour. Easy. Ten minutes later another racquet came in for me also due at 1. So now I have to start working fast. After completing the first 2 another one comes in also due ASAP. At 5 minutes past one I am bagging up the last of the four racquets. Four racquets in just over an hour but I really cruised on the last one.

We have a quality control supervisor here. Yat has trained many of the stringers in this room. If he doesn’t like something or the racquets are not good enough he will let you know and you will have to redo them. The tiniest thing like an imperfect knot or the strings not laying perfectly along the frame is enough to warrant another restring. He checks all series racquets. A series of racquets is 2 or more racquets for the same player. If they are to be at the same tension then they have to ping exactly. If they are at different tensions then have to ping differently. If they are not perfect then they get done again. If the strings are not straight you will know about it. Thus far I have escaped his wrath. As well as being the quality controller he is also there to answer any technical questions we have.  I have had to ask a lot of questions. Knot placement is critical. Although we have a specific pattern to follow, there a lot of exceptions with respect to knot placement. The type of racquet we are stringing and also the type of string we are using affects where the knot will go. We will use different knot placement on the same racquet depending on the string that is going into it.

For the first 4 days of the tournament we have strung 754 racquets. This is 68 more racquets than were done by the same stage last year. Our biggest day so far was Monday. We did 295 racquets that day. I did 26 racquets that day. The most racquets I have done in a day is 46. That was in Sydney a couple of years ago. 20 – 30 racquets a day is comfortable. 15 racquets a day is like a holiday.

I have been stringing a lot of K Blades. There are quite a few of the pink blades being used, even by guys. I have not done a Head Prestige yet. This is a good thing. There a few of them coming in for stringing but none have been allocated to me. The Prestige is my least favourite racquet to string.

It was an early finish for me tonight. I caught the 9pm shuttle back to the hotel and was showered and relaxing by 10.

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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.

US Open Stringing Room - Day 6

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Day 6 - Tuesday 23 August

I had a dream last night that my unit was flooding. I had friends  over and the carpet was all wet. I used a vacuum cleaner to suck the water up.  I expected to be dreaming about stringing.

My index fingers are sore today – on the very tips and along the edges of the nails. I really was pretty rough with them yesterday. I will have to not use those fingers at all and they will be fine by tomorrow.

I have some new bandaids to try out. I am trying blister bandaids today. The adhesive is a bit stronger so it might prevent them from coming off so easily. I am waiting in the hotel lobby now for the bus. I have just had a $3 ham and  cheese croissant and have a drink called Neurogasm. It improves circulation apparently. We’ll see.

No racquets for me from 10am to 11am. I am killing time on Facebook. Feel sleepy. I have some bottles of 5 hour energy in the fridge. I might have to get into that.

Matches are going on now. There are a lot of players outside the stringing room doing their warm-ups. It is a cool day outside. Definitely jumper weather and here I am without a jumper. The walk home tonight is going to be fun.

Slow, slow day. I had a lot of downtime today. This means that my players must be losing. Sitting here doing nothing is hard work. I have no energy. This is not normal. The long days might be catching up with me.

I am stringing for Fernando Gonzales. I strung 2 racquets for him. He does not have string with him so is buying it from us for each racquet he has strung. I did one racquet at 45lbs with Alu Power and the other at 46lbs. He is using a Pure Storm + but his racquet has no specs printed on it. It looks like he has a custom frame.

The new bandaids are working well. They have managed to stay attached for the whole day and my fingers are feeling fresh again. It looks like my thumb, index finger and fourth fingers are the ones that get all of the action so I will continue taping them.

We survived an earthquake today. It happened just before 2pm. I was at the machine and the ground started moving. At first I thought I was passing out. Then I saw the lights moving in the room. It lasted for about 10 seconds or so. Everyone was leaving the building so eventually I joined them. 

We left the courts early tonight. A few stringers stayed for the last matches to finish while the rest of us left at 8pm. I was so tired that I could have gone straight to bed . Instead I went for beers with Joe and Marni. They own Racquet Corner in Omaha. They are fun. Joe is one of the funniest guys I know. After a couple of beers I am back in my room and get to bed just after midnight.

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.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 5

Day 5 Monday 22nd August 2011

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Slept like a baby last night. I think I am on New York time finally. Had a ham and cheese croissant for breakfast. It was good but the cheese is different. So yellow.  I have never seen cheese that yellow. Maybe I need to get out more. Whenever I order food over here they always look at me like “That’s it? You sure you don’t want more?”

It has been a slow morning. 11.15 am and I have only done one racquet so far. We are expecting  300 racquets today.  Which means we are going to get totally smashed this afternoon.Could be a very late night. I have Powerbars and Red Bull to get me through.

I have taped my fingers today. They were ok after yesterday but I only did about 15 racquets. They will get a much harder workout today. I have found these round bandaids which are perfect to protect the tops of my fingers. I brought a supply with me but I cannot find them anywhere here. When I run out I might be in trouble. We’ll see how that goes.

We left the courts at just after 10pm tonight. Half hour ride home so ready for bed around midnight.

We did 290 racquets for the day. It did not stop from about 1pm onwards. There were a lot of racquets coming in. The bandaids are doing ok. My fingers feel like they have seen some action but are not painful at all. I have done a lot of racquets today. I am in the groove now. It always feels a bit slow the first day, but now I’m just in the groove. The machine is working great. We all have brand new machines. The clamps are working very well. No slippage at all and no crushed string. My machine was out of calibration this morning. It was out by a kilo. I recalibrated and then calibrated it 3 times after that. It was fine and has not needed further calibration.

I have 2 racquets to do first thing tomorrow morning. First round of qualifying starts tomorrow morning at 10 so we expect a morning rush plus there will be  some  on-court racquets as well.

I need to buy red bull on h way to the courts tomorrow. After 2 days stringing I have exhausted my supply. There is this supplement over here called “5 hour energy”. I might try that out tomorrow instead of the red bull. We’ll see how that goes.

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 US Open.  The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 4

Day 4 Sunday 21 August

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Woke up at 1.30am this morning. Could not go back to sleep. At 5.30 am decided to get dressed and go to the gym. Today was my first day stringing. We met downstairs in the lobby at 8am and caught the shuttle bus in.

The stringing room is in the player services area. Unlike Melbourne there is no public viewing area of the stringers room. The stringers room here looks out over the player’s courtyard so the players and officials are the only ones who can see us string. It is a bit more relaxed in that respect.

I received my uniform today. They look great. Shirts, shorts, tracksuit, bag and the most comfortable tennis shoes I have ever worn.

We expected today to be pretty slow. We did 170 racquets all up. There were 10 stringers on today. We have another 2 stringers joining us tomorrow. I started stringing at 10am and went through until 6.30.

I strung one of Verdasco’s practice racquets today. If he is given to me as one of my players it could be interesting. He often needs racquets in a hurry and does send in on- court racquets when he plays. When a player send in a racquet during a match we have 18 minutes from the time it hits the front desk to have it back in the hands of the runner.  So we must have the strings cut out, string the racquet, straighten strings, stencil and bag it all inside 18 minutes. To complete an on-court racquet on time you really need to be stringing it in around 10 – 12 minutes.

We left the room at 7.30 and went out for dinner to a Mexican restaurant. It was a long, long dinner with the best nachos ever.  Each nacho was a single corn chip with cheese, a dollop of guacamole and a cube of the most perfectly cooked beef. Amazing.

We are expecting tomorrow to be very busy. It rained late this afternoon which means we will be hit by a lot of players who did not get to the courts to practice today.

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 US Open.  The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 3

Day 3 Sat 20th August

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Sleep patterns are an issue. Had 8 hours sleep the previous night and felt great. Last night I went to bed at midnight. Slept through my alarm and woke up at 2.15pm. I think that was my body catching up on the last few days. 

Walked around for a few hours today.Lots of big shops here.Went to the gym for a bit. Really just took it easy. I have an early start tomorrow. It will be my first day stringing.  It should be an easy day. We don’t get really busy with the qualifiers until Mon/Tues. Qualifying starts  Wednesday so we expect Tuesday to be one of the busiest days we will have for the tournament.

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 US Open.  The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

US Open String Room 2011 - Day 2

Day 2 Friday 19 August

Things I learned today

1. Lack of sleep leads to headaches.

2. Nurofen Zavance does not act THAT fast.

3. Reese’s peanut Butter Cups are addictive.

4. Reese's Peatut Butter Cups contain 10grams of protein per 100grams which justifies my decision to eat them as a post workout meal.

5. Hotel gyms are really small.

6. Bums over here are really large.

7. Chemists over here are actually grocery stores but without the fruit and veges.

8. Food is really cheap.

9. Pizza from New York Slice in Brisbane is $7.50 a slice. Pizza actually from New York is 99 cents per slice.

10. There are more banks in Manhattan than there are 7 Eleven stores in Melbourne. There is even an Apple Bank - for apples?????

11. Wireless internet with a prepaid stick is lightning fast compared to Australian wireless.

12. The setup instructions provided by T Mobile with their prepaid internet stick are woefully inadequate.

13. When the T Mobile automated helpline cannot help you it just hangs up on you.

14. Wireless internet here is expensive.

15. Pre- paid phone plans are cheap.

16. The guys at Footlocker are really well drilled. Brought out 2 styles of shoes for me when i selected the one i wanted and tried to sell me innersoles as i was trying them on.

17. Times Square is underwhelming.

18. There is an undersupply of wheelie bins in New York.

19. It is ok to leave trash on the ground.

20. It is cheaper to buy new clothes than have them washed with the hotel's laundry service.

21. Homeless people here have mobile phones.

22. The police swat team gears up on Times Square just to impress tourists. Show-offs.

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 US Open.  The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

US Open Stringing 2011

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Day 1 18th August

My first day in the States and I'm spending it sitting in the American Airlines terminal. I can think of much better ways to waste 7 hours. So far as airport terminals go this one is pretty average. No good shops, A few food outlets. All of the food outlets have massive queues - US Customs size queues. I have never seen this in an Australian airport. The staffing sucks or these guys can eat. Either way it's not good. I shall have to start queuing at 1030am if I want to eat lunch at a reasonable hour.

The flight over was 13 hours. It's just on 9am now which means I have been awake for 19 hours now. Feeling tired. Although still managing to type with few errors. Note to self - get sleeping pills for the return trip. I cannot sleep in an upright position. No way, no how. I really feel like just lying down on the carpet and going to sleep. Floor space, however, seems to be at a premium. And I'm not confident that I  won't catch something. The warning signs all through customs scream danger at every turn.  The customs voice over guy likes to use the phrase "law abiding citizen". He uses it a lot. "Law abiding citizens are free to go about your business". "Law abiding citizens have nothing to hide. They are true travellers. True travellers are welcome in the United States." The undertone of course being if you mess up we will shoot you -dead. Note to self don't mess around with these guys.

Managed to clear customs in an hour. Pretty good considering I was at the very end of the queue. They bumped me to the front. My passport has had a workout. Had to present to the check in desk in Brisbane, then to customs in Australia, then to again to board the flight, then to customs in the US. before I collected my bag, then again to customs after collecting my bag (sidestepped the body cavity search) then again to drop my bag off for the connecting flight. In the space of 100m I present 3 times to 3 different people. Then it's over to the American Airlines terminal where I join a massive security screening queue and present my passport again.

I have to take my shoes off at this checkpoint and also undergo a full body scan. There is someone in a booth looking at me totally naked as I stand there with my hands behind my head. I saw that pose last night on the plane. I was watching Snowtown. In that movie a pedophile takes photos of a young boy standing in that position wearing only underwear. I feel violated.

I'm watching passengers board a plane right now. The staff here seem very unhappy. They are warning passengers that there will be random ID and baggage checks once they are on board the flight. If they ask me to unpack my bag I will not be thrilled.

The one saving grace so far are the peanut butter cups. Best thing ever. Bought a Nestea thinking it would be the same as in Australia. It sort of is. You can try it out at home. Buy a Nestea from the shop then each time you take a mouthful mix in about 8 teaspoons of sugar and there you have it. American Nestea.

It is just on 930am now. Time to find a spot to snooze.

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 US Open.  The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

Shane Mikic Stringing Blog

Shane Mikic has been invited to attend this years US Open as part of the official Wilson Global Stringing Team.  Again Shane will be sharing his experiences inside the room with insights into what is happening on the pro tour when it comes to tension, customisation and new strings. Stay tuned for more information.

Staying in the Tennis Business

Tennis Gear recently celebrated 40 years in the tennis business, originally the business was owned and operated by Geoff Olsson and then by Mark Bloomfield. A lot has changed over that time with the introduction of our online store www.tennisgear.com.au and also our latest Tennis Centre at Shaw Park. The one thing that hasn't changed however is our commitment to remain a tennis specialist and offer the best range, quality and advice in the industry.

 

The following article by Richard Neher  http://www.examiner.com/tennis-in-los-angeles/how-to-survive-34-years-the-ten...

Cardio Tennis at Shaw Park Tennis

On January the ninth Adrian O’Sullivan was invited to participate in the inaugural Cardio Tennis Australia workshop in Melbourne presented by U.S. Cardio Tennis guru Michelle Krause.  As a part of a highly motivated group of individuals from all over Australia the workshop covered all aspects of Cardio Tennis classes and involved participating in and designing lessons that covered all aspects of what Cardio Tennis is renowned for. “It was an unreal experience” Adrian states. “I really understood how I could improve the lessons I’d been doing and am looking forward to growing this aspect of tennis within Tennis Gear”. “It really is the most fun way to play tennis for any individual and standard, very social and not dependant on standard at all”.

At the end of the two days Adrian was actually glad to get on the plane back to Brisbane. “I was buggered after two days of constant cardio exercise, and I’m pretty fit!” Secretly though, I can’t wait to get into it again.

Cardio Tennis is available at Shaw Park Tennis Centre every Wednesday night at 6.30pm.  Details are available on our website at www.tennisgear.com.au

Yonex VCore Racquets now available!!!

www.tennisgear.com.au have just released the new Yonex VCore racquets for sale.  Caroline Wozniacki has just started using the VCore 100S, Naldandian will be using the VCore 98D and Hewitt will be using the VCore 95D.

The VCore frames are very competitively priced at $239 and demos are available at both the Everton Tennis & Gear and the Shaw Park Tennis & Gear Store. Be first to demo this racquet and write a reveiw on our site.

Pictured below is photo of Wasniacki and her new VCore 100S.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 16

Day 16 Sat 22nd January

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Today is my last day stringing. I was originally rostered to finish yesterday but I still had a couple of players in the tournament so decided to come in. It is Pin's last day as well which leaves 6 stringers from Sunday onwards.

 Arrived at 8.15am. Had one Raonic rkt due at 9am and then another 2 due right before his match. Went to breakfast at 8.50am and came back to find more rkts waiting for me. From 9.10 to 10.30 I did 5 rkts. 2 for Raonic which had been dropped off Fri night plus another he dropped in while I was at breakfast and 2 for Morita which were due at 11am. Busy morning. Then from 10.40am i had 2 RDis 100's to do which were due at 2pm, but I had to do them before Raonic got into his 11am match so that I would be free for his on courts. He sent in 3 on-courts during the first 2 sets of his match with Youzhny. I did each one in 15 minutes. Cut, strung, stencilled, bagged and out the door in 15 minutes. Pretty fast for that rkt. It is a K Blade 98, 18 x 20 pattern with Luxilon M2 Pro at 42/44lbs. I then sat down to watch some of his match. He sent another on-court at the start of the 4th set but we didn't receive it. I sat there waiting with my cutters at the ready and the string measured out but it never came. He won in 4 sets.

Mid afternoon was pretty quiet then it picked up again later on. I was done by 8pm. I went around the room saying my goodbyes. I felt sad leaving. It has been a good tournament. Lots of laughs.

The other day a guy at the window asked "how much do you hate stringing?" I replied that I loved it. Speaking to the other stringers here I know they all feel the same. It sounds crazy but this was a holiday for me. Working 14-15 hour days in an environment where the smallest mistake is a  very big deal. Last year I remember thinking that it was the hardest thing I had ever done. This year it all seems so easy. Hard work, but easy. Maybe it was all of the red bull I was drinking. I know that I can't wait for the next tournament. Whether it's the US Open later this year or Melbourne again next year.  Either way I look forward to catching up with the stringing team again.

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.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 15

Day 15 - Friday 21st January

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Steady day today. Juniors all checking in with rkts. Some of them are giving us 5 and 6 rkts at a time. This is more than most of the senior players will give in at a time. So we are getting busy again. Had one on court rkt today. I was halfway through another rkt when it came in. No phone call. Just a ball kid turning up at the counter with it. I left the rkt I was doing and did it on a free machine. The clamps on the  machine I used were much better than the clamps on the machine I have been using since the start. I just figured the clamp design was bad. Turns out the machine I had been on was one of the originals and the clamps have changed since then. The new clamps are fantastic. Our machines at work still have the original clamps so that is the feel I was used to. I have swapped the newer clamps onto my machine. They make a massive difference.

I made my first and only mistake today. Although it wasn't my fault (I always need a scapegoat).

A rkts came in during the morning and it was needed in 20 minutes. I was still on another rkt. I was given the rkt with no print out listing string or tension. The counter told me Alu Power at 25kg and handed me an alu power spool. I was given the print out after I had measured the rkt and started stringing but didn'y look at it because it was needed in a hurry. As I was bagging the rkt I looked at the print ou on the bag and it said Alu power mains and Sensation crosses!!!!!!!! The rkt was being picked up in about 5 minutes. Quickest string job I have ever done. Mains and half the crosses done in around 7 minutes. The player was late so the rkt was done stencilled straightened and bagged as they walked in the door. Close call. There were a few mistakes today. Misweaving, forgotten power pads, incorrect stencilling,  gut breaking at the tie off. Most of the guys have been here since early January and are getting tired. Limited sleep and long hours over a period of time take a toll. Fortunately no rkts have gone out to players with mistakes in them. They all get caught ahead of time.

I was asked to close. It means that I was the on-duty stringer for the last match of the night. Everyone was done around 10pm. Fortunately matches were quick so I got out of there around midnight. Tomorrow is my last day. Raonic is playing first up. I am expecting a few on court rkts from him. I have 3 to string in the morning immediately before his match.

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.

 

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 14

Day 14 - Thursday 20th Jan

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151 rkts. Slow, slow day. I spent most of the day trying to get my internet connection to work. No dice. Vodafone mobile broadband is without a doubt the single biggest frustration in my life. I suspect that my stress induced heart attack will no doubt result from dealing with these idiots.

Did 2 on courts for Raonic. I string 3 rkts immediately before he goes on court and then he sends in a rkt at the end of each set. He cruised in his match today so only the 2 on courts from him. If his nxt match goes to 5 then he is going to keep me busy.

Early night. Back to the room at 9pm. Went next door to buy timtams and grain waves. Ate the tim tams for dinner. Food of champions. Watched some tennis on TV. In bed by midnight. Tomorrow will be busier. The juniors will start checking in.

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.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 13

Day 13 - Wed 19th Jan

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240 rkts today. Things will start getting quieter now. Stringers are starting to leave. It was Joe's last day today. Dickie finishes up tomorrow.

We had tears at the counter early today. A player came in needing a rkt done in a hurry. But with english not everyone's first language the stringer cut the strings out straight away. It was the rkt the player wanted to keep and not the one she wanted strung. She broke down crying at the counter. Mental toughness? Both rkts were strung in time for her match and she was very happy with the result.

Early finish. Home around 10ish

 

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.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 12

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Day 12 - Tues 18th Jan

Fingers a bit sensitive today. Not even close to the pain I was in last year. I had 5 on court racquets today so they took a bit of a battering. Got all 5 done in under 18 minutes. The fastest was 14 minutes. That is 14 minutes to cut out the string, measure the string, mount the racquet, string the racquet, straighten the strings, stencil the racquet, bag the racquet and hand it to the runner. The record for any on court racquet by the Wilson team is 13 minutes.

I had 2 on courts in a row, one after the other. Had just finished one then within 30 seconds had another. Later in the day I had one of my players sending in a racquet for every set he played. I was glad he won in 3. Each time a racquet came in from him there was no phone call letting us know a racquet was coming in. Just a ball kid showing up with a racquet.

Finished early tonight. Had a quiet day. Still strung all day but they were mostly for other players. Had another stringer ask for help at 5.30. He had 2 rkts due at 6pm  but as he finished the first one he misweaved the bottom cross so needed to have 2 done in 30 minutes.

Left the stringing room at 9.30 and went for beers with Joe.

Home at midnight. Put on a load of washing. I have no clean clothes for tomorrow. Plus all of these hours in my shoes has left them very sweaty. Gross. They smell.

Back and neck feel fine. Not having issues standing at a machine all day. The compression socks make a huge difference. My legs feel fatigued when I don't have them pulled up.

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.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 11

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.

OZ Open Stringing room - Day 9

Day 9 - Sat 15th Jan

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As of the end of last night we had done 1094 rkts since last Sat. 6 of the 15 stringers had done 100 rkts or more. I was in 3rd place with 102. Vasilly had done 109 and Ben had 124. Ben knows all of the french players so has more players on his roster than anyone else. He works for Technifibre. Last year they paid him to go to Spain for 8 mths and string at various sports stores and centres promoting their products.

Today was kids day. We had a stage set up outside the booth. I was on stage with a microphone stringing rkts and talking to people about rkts strings and equipment I had 2 on courts during this time. Stringing in the blazing sun under a couple of umbrellas is not ideal when speed and accuracy are required.

On stage from 9.30 til 1.30. Lots of pictures.

The afternoon was slow until about 4pm. We got smashed. 238 rkts for the day. Solid day.

Early finish tonight. Back at the hotel by 8.40. Everyone has rkts waiting for them to be done tomorrow morning. Tomorrow is going to be a huge day. We are expecting around 350 rkts. Normally we wouldn't have on court rkts to contend with but qualies are still being played which makes life more complicated. Will be an early night. Maybe 11.30pm.

Fingers still feeling good. Have done plenty of rkts but it is the new technique which is helping me.

Web interview was posted on facebook today.

Spirits in the stringing room are good. Funny guys.

 

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.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 8

Day 8 - Friday 14th January

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Did a web interview today. Or was that the day before. I don't remember. It was posted on the wilson facebook page. Also did 2 live TV interviews. Seems I have become the face of the stringing team here. Wilson are doing interviews with all of the stringers here and posting them on facebook.

Easy day today. Fingers are feeling great. Not strapping them anymore.

Did my forst on court rkt today. Had it cut out, strung starightened and stencilled in 16 minutes. Bab Pure Drive one piece box pattern. 2 piece stringing would save me a couple of minutes on the time but we do 1 piece by default.

Early finish. Back to the room around 11. In bed at 12.30. 8.30 start for Sat.

 

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.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 7

Day 7 - Thursday 13th January

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Arrived at 8.30. 7 hours sleep. Feeling better than yesterday. Croissant and coffee for bfast. Love the staff cafe.

Rain all day. Slow day. Fingers feeling good. Have a full supply of red bull. Also bought washing powder on the way to work. Have a weeks worth of washing to do but have not had time to do it.

Pin spoke to me about my finger. He said why don't you just use it. Good suggestion.

Fingers are feeling good. Have been making a concerted effort to be kind to my fingers today. Looks like being an early finish tonight. Might have time to hit the gym tonight. Saw a pic of the UQ Athletics centre today. Under water. Looks like the courts and pro shop will be flooded too. Feel bad for the guys who work there.

 

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.

OZ Open String Room - Day 6

Day 6 - Wed 12th Jan

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First day of qualies.

TIRED!!!!! Up at 6.30. Body is telling me it needs more sleep. Throat is sore and sinus playing up. My body's reaction to lack of sleep. It's trying to slow me down. On the machine at 7.15. One rkt due at 8am and 3 more due soon after. More rkts came in for me while I was doing those. Had a racquet due every 30min for the rest of the morning. Flat out. At one stage I was handed 2 racquets both due in 20min. Had to palm one off. Forgot to bring my red bull - Mistake #1. Struggle street. Tried out a new taping method for my fingers - Mistake #2. I need the pads of my fingers free of tape. tape here slows me right down and catches the string too. Slowed me down.

Seems that all of the rkts I got this morning were 18 x 20 patterns. With the 1 piece pattern we are using these are not easy to do in a hurry.

Hit the wall at 3pm. Lack of sleep and food hit me hard. Couldn't concentrate and see straight. Off to the cafe for a quick coffee. If I sat still for long enough I would have passed out.

Had an issue with a player re tension. I did 2 at 53.5lbs for him mon which he played with stright away. Then Tues he went up to 54 and did not use the rkt until wed afternoon. Said the 53.5lbs felt tighter than the 54. The counter staff did not ask the right questions and did not inform him of the tension drop which occurs overnight. So he asks for 54lbs for his wed match in an hour. He likes it. So then drops the rkt in again wed night for a thurs match. Asking for 54lbs. By the time Thurs rolls around it will be too loose. Frustrating. He has not been told. I bumped the tension up half a pound. When dealing with any players. Whether they are social or pros you need to ask questions and educate them. These guys are no different from shop customers.

Rained late in the day which slowed things down. Not too many to do that night.

Flood is all over the TV. What a mess. I picked a good time to leave Brisbane. All of the suburbs around my place are flooded. I live very close to the river and city. All smashed. Home at 10ish.

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.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 5

Day 5 - Tues 11th Jan

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Day before qualies.

Started at 8.30. Slow morning. Rain on and off. From 2pm it was flat out. Did not stop until just after 11. We did 291 rkts. Fingers are sore. Not as bad as last year. 4th finger on my right hand is suffering trauma. Very painful. Rest are fine. Have been taping the tops of my fingers. Good idea. It has saved me considerable grief. Have 4 rkts due tomorrow morning that must be done in the morning. Means I will be in early. There goes my sleep. In bed around midnight. Did not sleep well at all. Got maybe 3 or 4 hrs sleep. Text message around midnight asking if i was ok. Brisbane is flooding. I have not seen a TV or newspaper for a couple of days.

 

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.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 4

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Day 4 - Mon 10th Jan

Racquets started coming in the afternoon. Getting busier. Guys still trying to fix roof. TV's came. We have 4 plasmas. 2 for the match schedules and court allocations and 2 for TV.  Jarrad arrived to start. Ordered more tools. Only one of my Babolat clamps is working.  Team BBQ at Essendon. Late night. In bed around quarter to one. Need sleep.

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.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 3

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DAY 3 - Sun 9th JANUARY

Getting busier. Twice as many rkts today. tried out some new clamp bases for the bairdo. They are dual action rather than single action clamps. Not a fan. I switched back to the orig bases after a few rkts on the new ones. There are also some new clamps as well. much lighter with what seems like a better locking action. Will try some tomorrow I hope.

Finally got credit for the cafe . Free lunches are a reality again. Had the best cheesecake this afternoon. OMG. This food is so bad for me. But oh so good.

Joe arrived today. He was on the team last year and is stringing next to me. He is pretty talkative so should keep me entertained. He was looking at my bab tools and said he had some bab clamps at home the same as mine which he didn't use because they slip all the time. So he offered to send them to me . I have had these clamps for a year and never ever had any slippage at all. None. Zero.

So the very next string job - bang!! clamp slips. FAAAAAAAAARK!!!!!!!!!!! Cut out the strings. First and hopefully the only botched string job for the tment. It was M2 and was working off a spool so luckily we had string there. You  do not want a mistake when working with a single set of string that the player has supplied. Then you have to chase them up to ask for more string .

Clamps continued to slip after cleaning. Pulled them apart to scrub the face with a brush. It seems to have worked. Will see how they go tomorrow.

Len ans Vasilly were having an argument about how fast you could string the mains. I told them 4 minutes. Len says he has seen it done in 2 minutes. That is crazy fast.

We are still without an adequate roof. We have covered all of the machines with plastic just in case it rains tonight.

Had the pre tournament meeting tonight. Covered what was expected. Spoke about patterns, knots and tie offs. Also spoke about problem strings and frames and what patterns we would use for them.

Went out to Shanghai Dumpling House for dinner. Met friends there. Dickie, Vasilly, Tadashi, Joe and Ben all came along. I told them how good the dumplings were so they had to see for themselves. Had this amazing swedish cider. Smelled like ripe strawberries. Looks like I have a new favourite drink. Crazy Swedes.

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.

Oz Open Stringing Room - Day 2

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DAY 2 - Sat 8th JAN

Left the hotel at 8am.

Accreditation all good, at least for now. First day on deck stringing. Very quiet day. Only did 7 rkts. We are expecting a quiet day tomorrow as well. So i have made dinner plans with friends. Short days will be few and far between over the next couple of weeks.

Still setting the room up. Fridge arrived today. Still no internet.

Fridge is fully stocked with powerade. Water to come but there is now no room for it. Snacks arrived today too. Looks like 10kg of lollies along with the biggest container of animal crackers ever. I called dibbs on the gorillas.

Uniforms were given out today. T shirts plus a hoodie. We got a polar fleece last year. They must not be expecting it to get as cold as last year. I asked for small shirts this year. They only had mediums for me last year and i was swimming in them. The smalls looked ok out of the box. Correct length. Tried one on when i got back to the room. I would need  to have the shoulders of a 10 yro girl to fit this shirt correctly. Skin tight from the chest up. Fits like OJ's glove. Have to swap them for a larger size.

We have no roof at the moment. There is a floor above us and we have a false ceiling that is full of gaps. As a result sawdust is constantly filtering down into the room during the day. We have to cover our machines at night so that they don't get covered in dust.

The other downside of the false ceiling is that it doesn't do a great job keeping rain or water from the garden on the roof as we discovered today. Water came streaming through the ceiling when the guys up top decided to take to the rooftop plants with a hose. Water and electrics are not a good match. They came and patched us up with duct tape. We have a ceiling held together by duct tape. Classy.

My cafeteria pass is not working. $32 of food per day that i am not getting. Need to go to accreditation to get this rectified. But it's ok. I have tim tams and red bull. Athlete food.

Back to the room at around 6.30. Feeling energetic so went to the gym. Good session. Sushi for dinner. Eating tim tams watching the tennis, talking about rkts. Vassily's lost bag turned up today. Got lost somewhere between Chicago and Australia. Clothes, tools and all. When he showed up yesterday with just a backpack we all thought he was packing a bit light.

Meeting in the lobby at 8.30 tomorrow morning. Sunday sleep in. Might go to the gym beforehand.

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.

Oz Open Stringing Room - Day 1

DAY 1- 7th JANUARY

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Left for Melbourne today. No sign of my police check in the mail. Still. It has been 21 days. Accreditation might be a problem in Melbourne. We have been told no accreditation will be issued without a police check. Was only told about this in December. Have been told by the police that it takes up to 6 weeks. Have been in touch with the guys doing the Sydney tournament. If I don't get a guernsey in Melbourne then they want me in Sydney stringing. Have been checking flights and accom in Sydney. Everything is up in the air at the moment.

Checked into the hotel. Staying at the Medina on Flinders St. 2 bedroom apartment. Lots of space. Caught up with some of the guys for dinner. Todd, Dickie and Tadashi. All 3 did the tournament last year. It is the 4th time Dickie has done the Aus Open. Both Dickie and Tadashi are coaches. Dickie in Hong Kong and Tadashi in Japan. Todd has a restring / customization business in the States.

Went to Stalyctites for dinner. It is the greek restaurant Baghdatis made famous during his run to the final a few years ago. It was busy. We had to queue outside. The staff were rude. The food was average. I had what was essentially an overpriced kebab. Won't be going back.

Heading to the accreditation office tomorrow morning to try and get this mess sorted out. Have refrained from buying any groceries in case i am off to the airport tomorrow. Have a 4 pack of sugar free red bull ofc. Might not be much cause for it tomorrow  even if I do get accreditation. There were only about 30 rkts total today. Tomorrow should be a bit busier but not crazy. Apparently it gets busy from the Sunday, with qualifying starting on Wednesday. Last year on the day before qualifying the team did 295 rkts.

Watching some TV and facebooking before bed. Fri night here but no stringers are out. Big days are not easy to do hungover.

 

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.

Shane Mikic Interview

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.

 

Click here to see an interview with Shane at the Australian Open Stringing Room.

Ljubicic speaks about his IG Extreme Racquet

The new Head YouTek IG Extreme racquets are now available at Tennis Gear. This racquet will be used by Ivan Ljubicic at the 2011 Australian Open.  Checkout the following video of Ljubicic explaining the benefits of his new IG Extreme racquet.

Federer loves his Wilson BLX Racquet

Tennis Gear have the full range of Wilson BLX racquets in store and online right now. If you would like to demo a racquet plase visit our store at Everton Tennis & Gear or Shaw Park Tennis & Gear and you can a demo a Wilson BLX racquet at no charge.

 

HEAD Youtek IG Extreme Racquets available

The new range of Head IG Extreme racquets are available at Tennis Gear.

This racquet provides all of the extra touch, power and spin you want for an aggressive game. HEAD’s YouTek™ concept aims to provide tennis players with the perfect racquet for their individual game. The new YouTek™ IG Extreme is specially designed for the needs of players like Ivan Ljubicic. It offers touch, power and spin for baseline hitters with a long swing style. In addition, Innegra™ promises to bring racquet head innovation to another level. Extremely tough and light, Innegra™ boasts the lowest density of any existing fibre and, combined with carbon fibre, forms an ultra-tough hybrid-composite structure. The result: improved stability and increased shock absorption. Racquet vibration from ball impact is reduced by up to 17 percent, yielding unique control and precision.

The four models of the YouTek IG Extreme line have their technology integrated into the layup of the racquets. It is highlighted by a new shaft which, due to its comfortable ergonomic shape, is also optimized for the double-handed backhand player. The racquet provides a more solid feel and sound on court and better touch on the ball. The secret: a special cross section which provides more torsional stiffness in the shaft.
The distinctive black-and-yellow Extreme also sets trends in racquet design, with modern and aggressive design elements.

HEAD racquet rebel Ivan Ljubicic is convinced by the benefits of the Extreme racquet: “It is a very powerful racquet, if not the most powerful on the Tour. It helps me a lot with my serve, but also to give the ball rotation with topspin and slice.”

The new Extreme range including Pro, MP and Elite models includes the right option for every playing style, backed up by the technological pedigree which has become a HEAD trademark on the ATP and WTA circuits – and anywhere tennis is played.

Djokovic speaks about his IG Speed Racquet

The new HEAD YOUTEK IG Speed racquets are available at Tennis Gear now. The following is a great video of Djokovic explaining the benefits of the new Innegra Graphite (IG) in his IG Speed Pro.

http://www.youtube.com/headtennis#p/u/9/kbvXURa_M1w

HEAD Youtek IG Speed

The new range of HEAD IG Speed racquets are now available at Tennis Gear.  This racquet will be used by Novac Djokovic at the 2011 Australian Open.

The Speed Pro offers a slightly heavier frame (335g) with a thinner beam (18mm), providing excellent touch for exceptional feel. It comes with a synthetic leather grip and cap for ultimate tour performance.

The second generation of YouTek™ Speed racquets, which again has been developed with and for world No. 3 player Novak Djokovic. The new YouTek™ Speed IG series combines the best features of the well-accepted YouTek™ umbrella concept and adds innovation by marrying the high performance materials d3o™ with HEAD's new Innegra™ fibre technology.

HEAD’s YouTek™ concept aims to provide tennis players with the perfect racquets for their individual game. The new YouTek™ IG Speed is specially designed for the needs of players like Novak Djokovic. Innegra™ promises to bring racquet innovation to another level. Extremely tough and light, Innegra™ boasts the lowest density of any existing fibre and, combined with carbon fibre, forms an ultra-tough hybrid-composite structure. The result: improved stability and increased shock absorption. Racquet vibration from ball impact is reduced by up to 17 percent, yielding unique control and precision.

Similar to Formula 1 racing where Innegra™ fibre technology is used to extend the performance and durability on a very high level, HEAD’s new frame structure considerably extends the performance of all HEAD YouTek™ IG Speed racquets.

HEAD racquet rebel Novak Djokovic is excited to serve at the upcoming Australian Open with his new weapon of choice: “The name is Speed, and the racquet gives me a lot of speed in this aggressive game. We have been working hard on the racquet in order to improve it as much as possible.”