Good morning. It’s Thursday. Today we’ll look at the people who string rackets at the U.S. Open in Queens.
Many tennis fans arrive at the U.S. Open starting around 11 a.m. to catch the day’s first matches between the world’s top players, but for the team of people who string the players’ rackets, the day starts much earlier, at 7 a.m.
The official stringing team has up to 22 workers on the tournament’s busiest days, and together they will string around 7,000 rackets during the whole tournament, said Ron Rocchi, the global tour manager for Wilson Sports, the tournament’s official stringing service provider. The team is spread out between two locations on the grounds: one in Arthur Ashe Stadium and another above the Wilson store near Louis Armstrong Stadium.
“In this environment, you have very long hours, very demanding clients, you can make zero mistakes,” Rocchi said. “You have to repeat it every day for many days for long stretches of time, so it is both physically and mentally difficult.”
The stringers on the official team come from all over the world, including the tournament’s own backyard. Julien Klein, 41, one of the stringers, was born and raised in Flushing, Queens, and currently lives in Huntington on Long Island. He has been stringing rackets for 10 years.
“There is a nice pride and something special to take part in this huge event in your hometown,” said Klein, who played tennis in college. After he experienced several injuries, it became clear to him that he wasn’t going to turn professional. “I got infatuated with equipment,” he said.
On average, Klein strings 20 to 30 rackets each day of the tournament, but on busier days, that number can range from 35 to 40. He typically has around 20 minutes to complete each one. When he gets a racket, he also receives information about the player, the tension — tightness of strings — the player requests, what time the racket was dropped off and when the player hopes to pick it up.
“There’s definitely some favorites,” Klein said of the players whose rackets he has strung. He said he was “lucky enough to string for” Jannik Sinner, “who’s on a hot tear, who’s No. 1 in the world.”
These days, players are not getting their rackets restrung because they’ve broken a string.
“That’s not what the modern game is — rarely does a player break a string anymore,” Rocchi said. “Almost all of the rackets we get in to string have perfectly good strings in them, and we’re cutting them out to put fresh ones in for the next day.”
Usually players want their rackets restrung because the tension will change over time, or because of the effect that playing four to six hours each day has on a string.
“They need their rackets fresh all the time,” Rocchi said.
The requests can be difficult. Sometimes players want rackets strung the morning of a match, just moments before it begins. Other requests include wanting the knots of the strings tied a certain way or placed in a certain location on the racket.
When the stringers start at 7 a.m., they are typically working on rackets that players want to use that day. The stringers’ days end when the matches end, which can sometimes be at 2 or 3 in the morning, or later. The team also strings rackets for coaches and hitting partners.
The players are charged for the service, but Rocchi declined to say how much. Players can get their rackets restrung elsewhere, including off the grounds, but some opt to use the official service because of the convenience. Stringing fees can come out of their prize money if they choose. Everyone pays the same rate, even qualifiers who rarely make much money — except for the juniors, who get a discount, Rocchi said.
Over time, players build relationships with stringers: Andre Agassi, for example, used the same stringer for 15 years. Sometimes Klein gets to string for the same player throughout the tournament. But this year, because he will be spending only 15 days at the Open instead of his usual 20 to 25, that might not happen.
“Sadly, I’m not going to get any premier players this year because I don’t want to let them down when I leave in a couple days,” he said.
Klein said his New York friends don’t quite understand what he does or the importance of his role.
He tries to explain his work to them, saying, “A chef is more than just cooking, or a caddy for golf is more than someone just handling clubs.” But sometimes friends excitedly ask him if he was the person who strung the winner’s racket.
Weather
Prepare for a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms persisting through the evening. Temperatures will be in the low 70s during the day and in the mid-60s at night.
ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING
In effect until Monday (Labor Day).
The latest New York news
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U.S. Open hats: The symbol of the tennis tournament — in Queens and beyond — is a simple cap with a logo and the year. The older the better.
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Summer
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The Sun sleeps
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Nature, enervated
Insists, no demands a
Respite from overheated
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Until suddenly all at once
Sleep shouts
As do wild fireflies
A smirking moon
And maybe just maybe you and me.
— Roger Granet
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Glad we could get together here. Tiffany Martinbrough will be here tomorrow.
P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.
Melissa Guerrero and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].
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