Many a Wimbledon champion might not have tasted glory on Centre
Court had it not been for the humble racket stringer.
Tucked away out of sight of the public, in a cabin next to the
players' practice courts at the All England Club are a hardworking
team of unsung heroes.
If a player snaps a racket string in the middle of a match the
Wimbledon stringing team, headed by Frances Davies, can have it
repaired and back on court in around 20 minutes.
"It becomes mission critical as soon as the ball boy's in here
then the racket goes straight on the machine," Davies told
Reuters.
"We aim for an absolutely maximum 22 minutes from court back to
player," she said.
"Normally if you took your racket to a shop it would take half
an hour to 40 minutes but our guys do three an hour - 20 minutes
each - without compromising quality."
Over the course of the two-week grand slam the team will string
2,200 rackets, and get through 21.73 km of string.
Competition for places is tough and prospective applicants, all
of whom have passed their Master Racket Technician exam, have to be
at the top of their game.
"It's seen as the place to string," said Davies, who has run the
team at Wimbledon for 11 years.
"I have to turn a lot of people down. But I will slot who I can
in for a day because it is a wonderful experience for them.
"We are perceived as having the best service of the grand slams
and we aim to keep it that way because we're very proud of
that."
Davies will use 22 stringers over three weeks, which includes
the qualifying tournament and has nine on site at any time.
The hours are long, starting as early as 6 a.m. and finishing
well after play has ended for the day.
"We can't go home until 30 minutes after the last match which
gives the players the opportunity to put their rackets in for
restringing the following day," said Davies, who works for a string
manufacturer the rest of the year.
Runners are used to deliver the rackets back to players,
wherever they may be.
"I don't think there's a place I haven't been," said head racket
runner Matthew Smith, who as a student of fine art at Loughborough
University also does the stencilling.
"I've gone to the press office, restaurants, if the player wants
it the player gets it."
The 19-year-old, nicknamed 'Peter Stringfellow' by the Wimbledon
security guards, uses the warren of tunnels under the courts to get
to his destination as quickly as possible.
"Sometimes you have to walk on court after they've lost a third
set tiebreak but they always say 'thank you'," added Smith. "You
forget they're human sometimes and can be quite chatty."
(China Daily via Agencies July 3, 2007)