--- title: The U.S. Open Racquet Stringers | TIME description: Backstage at the U.S. Open, learn how the tennis racket technicians can sometimes save a match canonical: https://time.com/video/ZByAprba/ og:title: The U.S. Open Racquet Stringers og:description: Backstage at the U.S. Open, learn how the tennis racket technicians can sometimes save a match og:url: https://time.com/video/ZByAprba/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZByAprba/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The U.S. Open Racquet Stringers twitter:description: Backstage at the U.S. Open, learn how the tennis racket technicians can sometimes save a match twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZByAprba/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # The U.S. Open Racquet Stringers > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: The U.S. Open Racquet Stringers [Watch (HLS stream): The U.S. Open Racquet Stringers](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZByAprba.m3u8) (6:06)  _Published 2009-09-04. Backstage at the U.S. Open, learn how the tennis racket technicians can sometimes save a match_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:13 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [A Blimp Crashed at the U.S. Open](/video/HUmU2iVa/) ### A Blimp Crashed at the U.S. Open [Watch Flavia Pennetta Win U.S. Open](/video/tBzSCAab/) ### Watch Flavia Pennetta Win U.S. Open [Oldest Time Capsule in U.S. Opened](/video/YfKLSb4p/) ### Oldest Time Capsule in U.S. Opened --- ## Transcript >> Well, it's September and it's that time of year again when the greatest tennis players in the world and over 700, 000 fans converge upon New York City to be a part of the US Open. As you make your way through the behind the scenes maze you come upon a small shop located at the foot of Arthur Ashe Stadium. Inside are some of the unsung heroes of the tournament, the men and women of the Wilson Stringing Team. These are the guys that string rackets for all the players from top seeds like Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova to the rest of the competitive field. Hi. >> Hi. How are you? >> I would like to get my racket strung. >> Certainly. Do you know what tension you want or do you wanna speak to Glen to pick out what the perfect tension for you is? >> Yes. I would like to speak to some masters. >> Speak. Speak to the masters, come on through. >> First, we meet with veteran stringer Roman, to learn a little bit about stringing itself. What does a stringer do? >> Well, we have to put strings into rackets when other players can actually go on to courts and play. It's not as simple as that but that's the goal that gets done here. >> How long have you been a stringer? >> I've been doing this for about 25 years. >> How do you train to become a stringer? What is, what's the pre- requisite? >> You have to love tennis, you have to play tennis, you know, that's pretty much given. You know, most of these guys actually they have their own job in their own respective cities and countries, so they've been doing this for years and years. >> So, this is the best of the best in this room right now? >> We believe so. >> Alright. >> We try. >> How much string do you go through during a US Open Tournament? >> We string about three and a half thousand rackets. The string would reach the Statue of Liberty and back. >> Really? >> Yeah. So that's a, it's a, miles and miles of string. >> Do you know whose rackets you're stringing? >> Oh, absolutely. >> Because you're getting so many for the day? >> Oh, absolutely. >> So you-- >> No, absolutely you definitely do know also, you know, the whole check- in process is very important, because you can imagine with three thousand plus rackets, it's very easy to mix it up. You know, so the check- in is done in a-- such a way that there is a label printed so, you actually have to carefully read it before you put the strings in the racket. Each player has specific demands, tension wise. In general, the looser tension gives you a little bit more power. So a lot of people who will need more power, they string in a looser tension. The guys who hit pretty hard they usually need more control, so they string a little bit tighter. >> So, is there a great story you would like to tell us about, you know, your history in stringing? >> Well, this stringer for the U. S. Davis Cup Team in Palermo. >> Can na-- >> Pete Sampras was the member of the team. You know, Pete used to string very high tension. It is-- it's very delicate work, you know, and it takes time. Unfortunately, there was already, with these modern machines which are electronic. So, what the Italians did they shut off the power before the matches. So, I couldn't string. So, Pete ended up going on court with one strung racket, and I had to really, really work as fast as I possibly could to keep on with his demand, because he would break it about every fifteen minutes. >> Oh, wow. >> You know, so I had actually Andre Agassi cutting on the string and helping me out. As I was, you know, stringing them and giving it to him he would just break a string and I would just finish that one, the next one, and on, and on, and on for the whole match. >> Did he win the match? >> He did win the match. >> Alright. >> And, we won the Davis Cup. >> Thanks, Roman. Now it's time to get my racket strung by Glen, a former professional tennis coach, and a master craftsman, who personally strings Andy Roddick's rackets. If Glen's expert stringing can help Andy serve at 155 miles per hour, maybe I too have a chance. Will this make me a better player? >> Oh well, I hope so. I hope so. It won't make you any worse. So, what we're gonna do for you is I'm gonna give you a little hybrid. Most of the top players, we'd say if you run through the top 20 list specially the Men's Tour, most will do like a hybrid whether it be a Federer, or, you know, a Roddick. >> What are you doing? You're just pulling it through so-- >> Yeah. Yeah. So, what we do is, you know, we have to thread the machine. No matter what advancements goes on no machine can actually, you know, weave a tennis racket. So, we have to weave it in, and we know, having done thousands and thousands of rackets, where the string actually needs to go. You know, you see a whole variety of holes in your rackets, in your racket there, so we know which hole it has to go into. Once it's tied to a tensioning wand, we clamp it, so now we can let it go, and it's still gonna-- >> That's great. >> pull the tension. >> What's the fastest you've ever done this ever? >> The fastest I think we ran about 9 minutes, but if you have stretch you're stringing a racket for a match, you know, you really wouldn't wanna go much quicker than, you know, like 12 minutes is about as fast as you want to go. >> Okay. >> So there's that balance between speed and quality. >> It seems very methodical. >> Yeah. You know, it is-- it is just, I mean you kinda switch off in a way, but you also have to concentrate, I mean if you-- if you sort of not look at what you're doing you might miss, you know, be admissive, and then all of a sudden you finished it and you cut it out, and you take it off the machine, and you feel, oh know you have misweaved and your time is just wasted. So, for the sake of just, you know, just keeping an eye on it, and not going too fast to, what's that I was saying, a stitch in time saves nine or something, so yeah, just watch what you're doing so you don't have to do it all over again. Alright, so your racket is now strung, so we're just gonna neaten up the strings a little. Now I guess that's something that everyone with the local string can just make sure that certain things are done to, you know, have a decent quality job. Oh. So there we go, all done. >> I hope this makes me the next Andy Roddick. >> Let's hope so. >> Yeah. So, while you're watching the US Open or any other tennis tournament, remember this dedicated group of guys and gals behind me. They're the ones that help keep these professionals performing at their peak. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The U.S. Open Racquet Stringers","description":"Backstage at the U.S. Open, learn how the tennis racket technicians can sometimes save a match","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZByAprba/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2009-09-04T18:04:46.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZByAprba.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/ZByAprba/","duration":"PT6M6S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/ZByAprba/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```