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.