We sat down to chat with him about the Yonex Stringing Team, and stringing in general.
How do you feel about this year’s team?
The team this year is primarily the core people from last year with a few new members. I am amazed by the amount of techniques and experience these people have. If you have a problem, you can ask these guys and they can help you out. It’s a very skilled team.
Any funny stories from the tournament?
There’s always a lot of banter going on while we’re stringing, but a lot of it should probably stay in the stringing room (laughs). One of the highlights from last year was Ricardo’s birthday party—that was really good fun. It’s always a lot of fun in the stringing room.
Any advice for people wanting to be stringers?
The best thing to do is try to participate in a workshop with an experienced technician. There are lots of videos online by people with limited experience, so it is important to seek out an experienced stringer and see if they run any workshops.
Any advice for amateur players about the importance of stringing?
Strings count for about 50% of the performance of the racquet, so if you want to be a good player you have to your racquet strung well. If you want to do it yourself, learn how to do it well because it will really help your game.