Inside the Wilson Stringing Room at the 2012 Australian Open
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 5:56AM 
The Wilson stringing room is a feature of the Australian Open. With its large windows, the public can peer in and watch the world’s best stringers as they perfect their craft. Kait O’Callahan caught up with one of the stringers, Jarrod, for a quick chat.
Is stringing your full-time job?
It isn’t my full time job, I actually run a tennis centre. But I string at the Australian Open and the US Open each year.
What qualities do you need to become a world-class stringer?
You need a lot of experience; you need to have strung a lot of rackets. You need to do a very consistent job in the quickest time possible.
What daily challenges do you face working at a Slam?
The main thing is to get rackets done and get them out on time, and once again, to get them as consistent as possible so the players have the same thing each and every day.
How many rackets do you string on average a day?
On a big day we do about 30 a day. Over the tournament we (a team of 12-14 stringers) clear about 3,500 rackets.
How often do players get their rackets strung?
Most get them strung daily. Even if the strings haven’t broken they still cut them out every day just make sure they’re fresh for their matches and their practice.
How long does it take you to string a racket?
When we’re taking it easy, the turn around time is just a little under half an hour. If we’re in a hurry we can get them out in about 15 minutes.
Can you name any players with unusual stringing requests?
That’s a good question. Not really - most of them keep their strings the same every day, a few people ask us to logo in specific positions on the string. Other than that, it’s pretty straight forward.
Are there any players in particular that are very particular about their strings?
Some players are, but everyone is very fussy about their tension. Tension depends on the outside temperature and also the court conditions.
Who plays with the loosest strings?
Matteo Viola, a Wilson player from Italy. He plays with a tension of 14kg (31 pounds)
Who gets the most rackets strung?
One of the Wilson players, Serena Williams, uses us quite a bit. Another person would be Rafael Nadal, he strings a lot of rackets with us. There’s a few players in there that string a lot of rackets.
Take a little peek inside the stringing room by watching the video below.
Photos and video courtesy of Wilson Tennis
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