US Open Stringing Room 2012 Day 1

US Open Fri –Sat 17-18 Aug 2012

Things I learned in New York Today

1.  Baggage handlers at JFK airport are the worst. If there was a baggage handling Olympics these guys would not be getting the gold. It took 55 minutes for my bag to be unloaded from the plane. Seriously. 55 minutes. Missed my shuttle and had to wait another hour for the next one. New York we are not off to a good start.
2. People in New York like to sit on the stairs outside their houses. It seems that very few people watch TV. Stair sitting is a big thing here. If two or more friends are visiting the party is relocated from the stairs to the 2 metre x 2 metre area at the base of the stairs which passes for a front yard. Living the dream.
3. There are crazy people wandering the streets of New York. And I mean crazy. One of the crazies I encountered was eating a tube of toothpaste as he went. I suspect this was to distract us from the fact that he was ranting endlessly. I did not stop to ask him what flavour toothpaste it was.
4. Razor blades are expensive here. More expensive than in Brisbane. Go figure. The razors I use are twice the price. I am probably growing a beard over the next couple of weeks.
5. Mobile phone plans here are pretty good. $60 for unlimited calls texts and internet and unlimited calls to Australian landlines. No this does not mean that I will be calling work each day.
6. Sushi here is not as good as the sushi in Brisbane. Maybe I need to find a better restaurant.

The flight over went pretty quickly. No sleep but I saw some good movies. My flight got into New York at 5pm and after the baggage delay I walked into the hotel lobby at around 7.45pm and ran into 8 of the other stringers who were just heading out to dinner.  5 minutes to get ready and then I was off to all you can eat sushi. Quantity is rarely a suitable substitute for quality.

I have the next day off so get to bed around 11pm.

I sleep in and manage to get out of the hotel just after 11. I spend most of the day shopping and sorting out internet and phone credit. New Yorkers really struggle with the Australian accent. I am asked by the T mobile guy to spell my name, “S-H-A-N-E.”   He repeats “S-H-I-E-N-E. How do you say that?” I say “Shane”. He says so that’s “Shayyyyyyyne?”

He continues to refer to me as Shayyyyne. Eggplant.

Dinner Sat night is sushi again but this time at a different restaurant. It is ok but not great.

I start stringing tomorrow so try to get to bed early. Sleep is going to be important over the next couple of weeks.

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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 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.

US Open Stringing Room 2012 - Day 3

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US Open Mon 20 Aug 2012

I am sore. My left quad is sore. My calves are sore. I think it is my broken toe. I am walking funny because of it. I need a massage.

We go flat out all day and finally finish up just after 9.30. We do 330 racquets for the day. That’s 40 more than we did the same day last year.

Jeff does 40 racquets for the day and wins the competition. Jim and Vasilly are close behind with only a couple of racquets separating them. I lag behind in 4^th or 5^th place. It doesn’t matter which it is. I might go into a deep depression after this.

The new 4G string is very similar to Alu Power but holds tension much better. I am keen to try it out. Quite a few of the players are changing to it.

Tadashi shows me a new Kimony starting clamp. Kimony is a Japanese company which makes some fantastic stringing tools and accessories. The clamp looks fantastic but it costs $300!! I think I will be sticking with my clamps.

We have our stringers meeting late in the afternoon. Ron Rocchi (who runs the team) has organised for each of us to receive a personalised 2013 model BLX Blade 98. These racquets are not available anywhere in the world until January. Each racquet has the stringer’s name stencilled on just above the grip. This is a really cool gift.

The last bus leaves at 6pm so we all have to take the train home. We get stared at a lot on the train. We all have matching uniforms, bags and racquets.

I get to bed around 11.30pm. My fingers are going to be sore 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.

US Open Stringing Room 2012 - Day 2

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US Open Sun 19 Aug 2012

I am not jetlagged. I am not jetlagged. I am not jetlagged. If I keep saying it then it must be true. But really I am not jetlagged. I wake up at 5.45am. I know I should be sleeping but my body tells me it’s time to wake up. I try to be quiet. Jim my roommate had a big night at Snafu so he probably needs sleep. I get dressed and head off to the hotel gym. This will probably be the only time I get to the gym while I am here. I have an omelette for breakfast and head to the shops for Red Bull – 2 should be sufficient. On the way back to the hotel I pass another crazy guy. They really are everywhere. The tournament bus leaves from our hotel at 8am each morning and takes about 20 minutes to get to the tennis centre. The stringing room is located in Arthur Ashe Stadium next to the player check-in desk.

After calibrating and cleaning my machine it is all systems go. I string non-stop until 2pm and take 15 minutes for lunch. Welcome to the US Open. It really is a manic day. It was not this busy at the same time last year. There are extra players in the qualifying draw so that would explain the extra racquets. After lunch I go non-stop until 8.15pm. A solid 12 hour day is a good way to start.

We have the official team dinner at the same Mexican restaurant we went to last year. They do the best nachos on the planet. That is not an exaggeration. I find out some information about the new Wilson racquets being released in January. There are new Steam and Blade models. Two of the new Steam racquets will be designed specifically for spin and have a special string designed to be used in them.  They sound really good. There will also be a new version of the Blade 98.

Tomorrow is the day before qualifying starts so it will be the second biggest day of the tournament. We start talking about a competition so it is decided that the person who strings the most racquets will receive a spool of the new Luxilon 4G string. To an extent this is out of the stringer’s hands. You need to work fast but how many you do is dependent on how many of your players drop frames in and how the front desk allocates new players.

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.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 17

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Australian Open 2012 - 24 Jan Tue

Day 17 – The Break-In

 

I wake up early and head over to the stringing room at 7.30 with Todd. When we get there the room is locked. Joel is not there to open up yet and we don’t have a key. I have 3 racquets due at 9 and I want to get started on them. At 7.50am I decide to break in. One of our windows has a dodgy latch so I climb up onto the ledge and push it open. I climb through the window without injuring myself.

A woman who is walking past comes over and asks me if I am a stringer. When I reply in the affirmative she to me “Well it’s not a good look”. I resist the urge to say something smart. Surprisingly she doesn’t call security. Joel turns up to unlock the doors soon after I break in.

I get through my morning racquets quickly. Todd has been speaking to the stringer who was doing Tsonga’s racquets. He was spraying the ball in his match with Nishikori. Apparently he changed strings for this tournament. He was using a full poly setup prior to this and changed to gut mains to soften the stringbed up. It looks like he has sacrificed a bit of control by doing this.

Radek Stepanek drops in a Donnay racquet for us to string. He has been playing with a Bosworth racquet for years but might be looking to change.

I find out some interesting information from the Wilson guys about Del Potro. He is still using an old Wilson K Factor racquet. He only has a few of them left. When a racquet has had a lot of use and a lot of restrings the graphite starts to break down and take on a different character. I am told that they have tried to make new frames for him with the same specs as his current frames but because the graphite is not worn he does not like the feel. James Blake had similar problems with his racquets as well I am told.

We have a camera crews through the room looking for action a number of times. Each time they turn up there are no racquets being strung. Bad timing.

I do an on-court racquet for Sania Mirza.

There is a mix up with an on-court racquet for Rafa during his match with Berdych. We see him hand off a racquet for an on-court and we get the call from the tournament desk. 20 minutes later we still have not received the racquet. The racquet had been left on Rafa’s chair behind his bag. We finally receive the racquet and it is back in the runner’s hand in 12 minutes.

I head to Cookie after I finish to have some drinks with Jim. He is leaving the next day. Alcoholic Japanese bubble drinks again. They are far too easy to drink. I am in no hurry to get home. I have the next day off. It is my first day off for 2 and a half weeks. We work around 90 hours a week so I am really looking forward to it.

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.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 16

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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.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 14

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Australian Open 2012 - 21 Jan

Day 14 – Juniors and Kukushkin

We are kept busy this morning. In addition to the morning batch of racquets from Kukushkin we have a lot of junior players dropping off racquets for the start of the junior tournament tomorrow. The junior racquets are fun to string. There are a lot of Babolats with open patterns and hybrid string. They are a breeze to string. I could string these all day.

Medina Garrigues cannot find the racquet we sent out to her during the match last night. The issue takes hours to resolve and involves multiple calls from player reps and the tournament desk. We are being told that we have lost the racquet. Eventually they contact the runner who collected the racquet from us to take onto court. She had left the racquet in the player’s bag while she was being treated for the injury. A quick count of the racquets in her bag confirms that this is the case.

There are people everywhere. It is so busy outside. Apparently the ground passes have sold out. There is massive queue for beers at the bar opposite us for much of the afternoon.  Many people are unable to get into the showcourts and they resort to watching the bigscreen instead.

I receive a round of applause from a guy who watches me string a racquet from start to finish. I didn’t know I was that good. Perhaps I should be selling tickets.

Kukushkin plays a marathon match against Monfils. He sends in two on-courts. One in the fourth set and one at the start of the fifth. I get both of them done in 15 minutes. The pattern we use produces a very hard weave on his particular racquets. I injure my hand while doing his second racquet. The ligament controlling the middle finger on my left hand is very sore. I am having trouble closing my hand and gripping string. I might have to call the trainer.

After the Kukushkin match I only have two racquets for Lisa Raymond to do. Then I am free to eat pizza and have a couple of drinks while watching the Hewitt match.

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.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 13

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Australian Open 2012 - 20 Jan

Day 13 – Cameras and On-courts

It starts out as a busy morning. I have racquets to string for Li Na and Kukushkin first thing but after that the room slows down. Everyone is quiet. We have quite a few camera crews and photographers coming through the room today. One camera crew decides that they are going to do a live cross from the stringing room during the Federer match. But they set the camera up looking across the room so it looks like there are only about 3 machines and at the time they come in nobody has any racquets to do. So they start setting the room up and asking us to look busy. They get three guys on machines pretending to string.  They put me in the background on a computer pretending to do work. So lame. We wait about 10 minutes until they do the cross and it lasts for 30 seconds. Worthwhile.

I have a photographer taking photos of my badly manicured hands while I string a racquet. I have some strapping on a couple of fingers which is half falling off. Great look. Later on in the day channel 7 attach a camera to the handle of a racquet and get me to string and stencil it. It will be on TV in the next couple of days I am told.

It gets busier heading in to the afternoon. I will be staying late tonight as Li Na is the last match on.

Dologopolov sends in two racquets during his match with Tomic. Jarrad and I do them at the same time. Jarrad flies through it and has the racquet heading back  to the court in 12 minutes. That is the fastest time of the tournament so far.

There are no more racquets from Dolgopolov that night. As the womens match between Li Na and Medina Garrigues begins I am just about ready for bed. I am the last stringer left and am just waiting for the  match to finish before I go back to the hotel. Then Garrigues send in an on-court racquet after the warmup. Time to wake up. Just as I am tensioning the last string she goes over on her ankle. I bag the racquet and send it out anyway. She retires soon after and I get an early night. In bed by 12.30.

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.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 12

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Australian Open 2012 - 19 Jan

Day 12 – Serena and Cricket

I have trouble getting out of bed this morning. I have been using the Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock App on my iPhone. It is great because even with little sleep it will wake at the correct stage in your sleep cycle so that you do not feel tired. I forgot to set it the night before. I feel asleep for most of the morning. My eyes are blurry and I am having trouble focussing.

After I get through the morning rush we are offered some tickets to see Serena’s match on Rod laver. The tickets are in Strycova’s player box. Joe and Len have tickets as well. The difference in standard between the 2 players is astonishing. Strycova struggles to keep the ball in play. There are few rallies. She makes a lot of second and third ball errors. She seems close to tears after just a few games. Her coach is not happy and smashes a water bottle into the ground when the match is finally over.

After the match we head over to the noodle place to get some lunch. The food is good apparently. They are so busy. They are taking orders faster than they can make food. The organisation is poor. There is no number system. All of the people who have ordered food cram wait at the end of the counter and as food is brought out the closest person just grabs it.

The dim sims are good. The pad thai is very salty. It is like gargling with sea water. No more noodles for me.

Within minutes of getting back to the room I get slammed. My players are sending in urgent racquets at regular intervals. I have another on-court for Kukushkin which is done in 16 minutes again. I also go head to head with Tadashi over some Nishikori on-court racquets. He beats me by one string.

Tennis Australia has organised some tickets to the cricket for some of us tonight. I head over to the MCG with Joe, Jim and Matthieu. It takes us 20 minutes to track down the tickets. None of the staff at the MCG seem to have a clue about their basic procedures. We are there in time to see the final 15 overs of the match. The Jim Beam tastes good.

We head back to the room to collect our bags after the cricket and head home. Vasilly is staying to cover the night matches. He is asleep on the floor when we walk in.

It seems more like a holiday than work today. That should change tomorrow. We expect to be busier as the junior players start to check in. We also lose one of our stringers tomorrow. Today was Dickie’s last day so one of us will have to cover his players.

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.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 11

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Australian Open 2012 - 18 Jan

Day 11

I have an early start today. There are 7 racquets for Sam Querrey waiting for me as well as racquets for Li Na. I need to get through the Querrey racquets as quickly as I can to free up my machine.

My fingers are still a bit sore so I really need an easy day to give them a chance to recover.

After I clear the morning racquets it is a slow day for me. My fingers are starting to feel better.

The café sells yoghurt with berries and muesli. I decide to try it out. It looks really good but tastes sour with the texture of soggy bread. Not a great choice.

The fridge in the stringing room is broken again. This is the 3^rd day in a row. The freezer works great the fridge compartment is really just a box. Works like cardboard but chews more electricity. We have to make do with room temperature Tim Tams. Some of the guys are upset.

I leave the room just after 9pm. I try to get an early night. The long days are starting to take a toll on my body.

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.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 10

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Australian Open 2012 - 16 Jan

Day 10

It starts out as a busy day for me. I have racquets for Li Na and Kukushkin. Kukushkin is still playing without a stencil. He has a Wilson contract but is using Head racquets. After I get through those the racquets do not stop for me. It is not a really busy day overall. We only do 250 racquets in total for the day but I do not leave the machine. I finally get a break at 10 to 4.

I quickly grab some food and then there are racquets waiting for me when I get back to the room. I do an on-court racquet for Kukushkin. It is one piece Big Banger Original in an 18 x 20 pattern. This is not the easiest racquet to string quickly. I have it back to the runner in 16 minutes. It’s not a world record but it is well within time.

I have had to tape my fingers today. It is the first time I have had to do so. My left index finger and the middle finger on my right hand have been doing too much work. They are tender. I am avoiding using them as much as possible. I am using tools to handle the strings as much as I can to save my fingers.

By the end of today we have done 2128 racquets in total.

I leave the room just before 10pm. I am exhausted. A few of the guys are having drinks. I don’t go. I need to sit down and put my feet up. I really need a massage now.

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.

Australian Open Stringing Room - Day 9

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Australian Open 2012 - 16 Jan

Day 9 – Main Draw

A few of us start early today. I am stringing from a quarter past seven. Li Na’s racquets prove to be slower than expected. She uses Pro Hurricane for the mains and Babolat Excel for the crosses. Both strings have a very sticky coating which makes straightening them a slow process. The crosses have 10% machine pre-stretch on them which means I am always working ahead of the tension head. The tension head pulls, releases and then pulls again for each cross string. Waiting for the tension head to pull twice slows me down. I am wanting to move quickly but it just won’t happen.

Racquets continue to come in during the morning. Everyone in the room is working flat out. On-court racquets come in thick and fast. We are having multiple on-court racquets come in from the same player at one time. This has the added novelty of 2 stringers racing against each other to get their racquet done. Jeff remains undefeated for the day.

We are busier than we were yesterday. By lunch time we have done over 200 racquets. My racquets start to slow down in the afternoon. I head over to do a radio interview with 3AW. It goes pretty well. They want to know if I would want to travel year round and string on tour. I think they are surprised when I tell them no. A few tournaments a year is fun but to spend most of the year stringing would mean giving up all sport and exercise in general. That’s not a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

I get through 3 Red Bulls today and am distressed when I realize my supply has been exhausted. We get through 354 racquets by the end of the day. I leave the room after 11pm. I need sleep and a massage.

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.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 8

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Australian Open 2012 - 15 Jan

Day 8 – Ridiculously Large Pizza Day

We are expecting a massive day today. The day before main draw starts is always big. We are quiet until about 11am then the racquets start coming in. While most qualifiers are happy bringing in one or two frames the majority of main draw players bring three, four or five racquets at a time.

Lunch today is pizza. Not just any pizza but Costco pizza. Each pizza is 6 slices. One half of a Dominos pizza has fewer calories than a single slice of Costco pizza. This is the most cheese I have seen on a single slice of pizza ever. No wonder Americans are overweight. I struggle to finish one slice. The base of the pizza is so thick that I feel as though I have eaten half a loaf of bread. No donuts for lunch today. This is a good thing.

After the pizza the racquets continue to pour in the door. I am making good time and staying on top of things until Sam Querrey’s racquets turn up. He wants 7 racquets done. My box is now very full. I get through the Querrey racquets in just under 2 hours.

Geometric polyester strings are popular at the moment. There are octagonal, hexagonal, pentagonal, square and triagonal cross sections. Some of them have very sharp edges designed to grip the ball. As a general rule I don’t like working with strings that have edges sharp enough  to remove your finger prints when you handle them. My next two racquets need just such a string. It is getting late now and I am careful not to slice my fingers. I still have racquets to do after I am done with these.

Everyone works flat out throughout the afternoon and into the night. The last stringers are done before 10pm. I only need 2 Red Bulls for the day. A few of us have racquets to be done first thing in the morning and will be heading in early. I have 4 racquets for Li Na and one for Kukushkin. I get to bed around 11.30.

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.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 7

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Australian Open 2012 - 14 Jan

Day 7 – Kids Day

Today is kids day at Melbourne Park. All kids get in for free. It is the final day of qualifying matches and there are exhibition matches on other courts. There are activities everywhere to keep the kids interested. We have a stringing display again this year and I am the man for the job. I am on a small stage outside the stringing room stringing racquets beneath a couple of umbrellas. I did the same thing last year but I had a microphone so I could speak to the crowd. There is no microphone this year so I fail to draw the huge crowds that I had last year. Fortunately I have no on-court racquets while I am on stage. It is difficult to string outside with the stringbed partly in shade. I end up doing 4 hours on stage. Last year it was only 2 hours. The longer performance surely warrants extra pay. I make a mental note to speak with Ron about this.

Jim does a live interview today for Australian Open TV. It screens on the big screen here during a break in one of the exhibition matches. He is not happy being on camera although it doesn’t show.

Even though we are 2 days out from the start of the first Slam of the year the room is still pretty quiet. We have some racquets coming in during the afternoon but no one is pushed.

I don’t need any Red Bull today.

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.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 6

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Australian Open 2012 - 13 Jan

Day 6 – Twisties

I do a ham and cheese croissant again for breakfast. Melbourne is going to make me fat if I’m not careful. I have a couple of racquets to string first thing in the morning and then I am free until matches start.

 I do my first on-court racquet of the tournament today. It is a Wilson Juice with a 16 x 19 pattern strung in one piece with Alu Power. I string the racquet in just over 10 minutes and it is back in the runner’s hands 15 minutes after he steps in the room. That’s a good time to start with.

Lunch today is Twisties and wraps. The Twisties don’t go down so well. Not sure why these guys have a problem with Twisties. I lose some sleep thinking about this.

It is not too busy today. I only need one Red Bull.

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.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 5

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Australian Open 2012 - 12 Jan

Day 5 – Party Pies and Donuts

I decided to go with raisin toast for breakfast. Solid choice. We received our jumpers today. The official Wilson jumpers did not make the shipment so we have been supplied with bright, bright orange Lacoste jumpers. This could happen soon enough. It was cold and rainy again this morning. Not great tennis weather.

Tadashi does an interview about stringing Nishikori’s racquets. He is playing with a new Luxilon string called 4G. Apparenty this is not information that was meant to be released. The interview is now all over Youtube. We have no information on the string other than the name. The Luxilon guy will not give us any details. Nishikori used to play with Alu power Fluoro so we are speculating that it is a soft poly but this is only a guess. Without playing with it there is no way of knowing.

I did racquets for Sam Querrey today. He is now using Aero Pro Drives but requests no stencils. Which means that he is stencilling the racquets himself or that he does not have a deal with Babolat. He used to use Prince racquets.

The stringers room lunch today is party pies, sausage rolls, mini hotdogs and donuts. There is so much food. After lunch I do not eat for the rest of the day.

I still have not had to do an on-court racquet. It is a steady afternoon. I only need one red Bull for the day and head back to the hotel at 9.30.

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.

New NIKE Zoom Vapor Tour 9

Tennis Gear have just received the latest Nike Zoom Vapor Tour 9 shoes in store.

These shoes look amazing and are the shoe of choice for Roger Federer in this years Australian Open.  Priced at only $179, the Nike Zoom Vapor Tour 9 shoes will not last long.  The following is a great video displaying the features of the shoe. Further information can be found on our website.

$50 off HEAD IG Racquets

With the recent release of the new IG Radical and IG Prestige racquets, HEAD have announced they will be offering a $50 manufacturers rebate on the YouTek IG racquets listed below.  There are some terms and conditions you need to be aware of, and they are also listed below. 

Tennis has reduced the list prices of those racquets to account for the rebate, prices can be found on the HEAD Racquets page on our website.

- YouTek IG Prestige MP
- YouTek IG Prestige S
- YouTek IG Prestige Mid

- YouTek IG  Speed Pro

- YouTek IG  Speed MP  16x19
- YouTek IG  Speed MP  18x20

- YouTek IG  Speed MP  300

- YouTek IG  Speed Lite

- YouTek IG  Radical Pro

- YouTek IG  Radical MP

- YouTek IG Radical S

- YouTek IG Extreme Pro

- YouTek IG Extreme

- YouTek IG Extreme Elite

- YouTek IG Instinct

The $50 has already been taken off the price of the racquets. Our website list price reflects the $50 rebate.

By purchasing one of the racquets within the Manufacturers rebate program you agree that we can pass your details onto Leisure Link the Australian distributor of Head tennis products.

The information we will pass on will be limited to your name, address, suburb, state, postcode, email address, date of purchase, racquet model and serial number. The data will become the property of Leisure Link Pty Ltd.

The manufacturers rebate is available for full priced racquets only and soes not apply with any other special or offer. The rebate is for Australian residents only.

The promotion will run from the 8th January 2012 to the 29th February 2012.

This is a great time to get yourself the latest racquets from HEAD.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 4

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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.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 3

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Australian Open 2012 - 10 Jan

Day 3

Coffee and a croissant for breakfast. This is becoming a pattern.

The radio in the room is not working so my computer and playlist get a work out all day. I find myself apologizing for a lot of songs.

One of my players puts in 4 different racquets to be strung. One week out from the first major of the year and he is messing around with different racquets. He played off his head in Brisbane. Maybe he does this every time he loses. I’ll let you know if he gets through the first round.

The morning is pretty slow but after lunch we get hit by an avalanche of racquets which does not stop. We all string flat out until around 930pm. We are still about 100 racquets down from the same time last year.

I go out for a beer after we get back to the hotel and get to bed around midnight. My fingers feel good. No need to strap them up yet. I went through 3 Red Bulls today. I think that’s a pretty good way of measuring how busy we are. I’m hoping for a 1 Red Bull day 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.

Australian Open String Room Day 2

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Australian Open 2012 - 9 Jan

 Day 2

Woke at 7am this morning. Had a quick shower and headed over to the courts around 8am. I had one racquet to do before 9. It was a slow morning so I went to the café for breakfast. We have access to the media café which is handy as it is close to the stringing room. The alternative is the staff café at HiSense arena. The food is cheaper here but it is a long walk from the stringing room. The ham and cheese croissants here are outstanding. Best thing ever. The coffee in the staff café is excellent too. Great start to the day.

Things pick up after lunch and by early afternoon we have a steady stream of racquets coming in which keeps everyone busy until about 7.30pm.

I am given my first Pacific restring of the tournament. No premature breakage. Must have been from a lucky batch. I have done enough racquets now to be in the groove but not enough to make my fingers sore. The perfect balance.

Most of the stringers have arrived now. There are 12 stringers with 3 more to come. One of the stringers is doing training with us and he will finish up tomorrow which will leave us with 14 stringers for the tournament.

I am on a brand new machine just as I was in New York. The clamps feel great. I clean them a couple of times each day but there is no chance of slippage.

We also calibrate and clean our machines every morning. All machines are calibrated with the same calibrator so that they are pulling at the same tension. I should be able to string on any machine in the room and pull up the same tension. The machines are not turned off at night. These machines self-calibrate each time they are turned on so we keep them turned on for the duration of the tournament to simplify the calibration process.

We finish early tonight. I have Nandos for dinner and kick back on the couch to watch some cricket. Tomorrow will be very busy. The day before qualifying starts is traditionally one of the biggest days for the tournament. I will have to stock up on Red Bull tomorrow morning.

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.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 1

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Australian Open 2012 - 8 Jan

 Day 1

I flew into Melbourne late yesterday afternoon. A few of the guys were coming back from the stringing room just as I got to the hotel. The guys have been stringing for a couple of days already but have not done many racquets.

I finally sorted out which room I would be staying in. Subway for dinner, caught up with the guys over a couple of drinks then off to bed. My bed doesn't like me this time. Or maybe it's my pillow. I think my pillow was designed by someone with a massive head. And my bed is softer on the edges so I find myself sleeping right over on the edge. Falling out of my bed at night is a risk I am willing to take.

 I left for the stringing room at 8.30 this morning. Sorted out my accreditation, cleaned and calibrated the machine and was ready for action by 9. It was a quiet day. I only did a handful of racquets.

Our uniforms have changed this year. White shirts instead of grey. The hoodies have not arrived in time so it looks like we will all be wearing bright orange Lacoste jumpers when it gets cold as it inevitably does in Melbourne.

We had Djokovic’s racquets in the room today. He is using gut mains and Luxilon Alu Power crosses at 27kg. His frame is painted up as a Head IG Speed 315 but it has an 18 x 20 string pattern and a different beam from a standard Speed 315.

We finished early and left the room around 6.30. We had a BBQ at Phil’s place. We do it each year and it is a good way to start the tournament. Phil has 2 courts at his place so it gives everyone a chance to hit some balls and demo the new Wilson racquets.

The BBQ wound up pretty early so I was back in the room by 10.30 and ready for bed by 11. Tomorrow will be a busier today.

 

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.