'HOPEFULLY GET THEM OVER THE LINE': BEHIND THE SCENES OF YONEX'S STRINGING TEAM

If Alex de Minaur can become the first Australian man to win his home singles Slam in almost half a century, a 25-year-old from the outer Melbourne suburb of Craigieburn will be thrilled to have played a small supporting role.

Jeremy Reeve is again the man responsible for stringing the eighth seed's racquets during his Australian Open campaign, having also been on duty during de Minaur's run to the 2023 Queen’s Club final and the Wimbledon quarters last July.

"So it’s always exciting and I think he’s going to do well," says Reeve, whose client list as part of the Yonex Stringing Team also includes Aussie women’s No.1 Kim Birrell and US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz.

"You’re watching the matches and you’re almost rooting for your racquets to hopefully get them over the line. So it feels like you’re part of it a little bit, part of the team.

Nick Kyrgios also has an ongoing relationship, the Canberran teaming up annually with experienced Victorian Pin Lay, as head stringer Jim Downes channels "a bit of the national pride thing" to pair up as many of the same nationalities as possible. 13 countries are represented on the stringing roster this year.

Yet despite a player push for unlimited free restrings at the AO, according to Downes, each main draw entrant receives five per round, and the cost for the rest (at a standard $32 each), comes out of an individual’s prize money.

At which point we mention the story involving a profligate former Aussie top-tenner who would get dozens of racquets strung for each practice session and then disembowel all those not used that day.

A very expensive habit, if true. Perhaps also an urban myth.

"Maybe," says Downes. "I do know a player that would get 10 to 12 done and maybe play with two of them, and then they’d all get snipped and done again fresh for the next match."

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This is the 10th year of the Yonex-AO collaboration, with Wilson the official partner at the French and US Opens and Babolat holding the Wimbledon contract.

As we enter Stringing HQ underneath Rod Laver Arena on the Friday afternoon of qualifying week, an electronic display has the racquet count at 2661 ahead of the busiest period of the tournament heading into round one.

Across the full 21 days, the dedicated staff in powder blue monogrammed polos will be responsible for around 7000 racquets refurbished with enough string to reach from the tennis precinct to beyond Geelong.

The workstation for each is a Precision 9.0 Yonex machine labelled with the contractor’s name, country and national flag. Just four are women.

South African Bandile Mahlangu, here for the second year, says the standard time expected for a restring, including a new logo, is 20 minutes, but more urgent in-match work is required in 15, tops. Both Reeve and Mahlangu’s PB is around 13 minutes, and the pair agrees that consistency is key.

"Tennis players prefer to go to the same person," says Mahlangu, 27. "It’s about building a relationship so the players know they’re getting their equipment done exactly the way they want it done."

Higher string tensions can lead to sore fingers, he admits, and the long hours — shifts sometimes stretch to 18 hours — can be exhausting. But worth it, nevertheless.

For Mahlangu, it’s the next best thing to playing. "Yeah, for us stringers, stringing at a Grand Slam is like a player playing at a Grand Slam."

Both work in tennis shops when not on the road. Reeve’s big break came in 2021, courtesy of Covid-19, when fewer internationals made the long trip to Oz, and the local lad was promoted from his stencilling gig of the year before.

"Then ever since I’ve been stringing away," says the chirpy former Saturday pennant player, who feeds off the adrenaline of big match pressure, loves the technical precision involved and admits a little OCD is almost a condition of the job.

"Always! Because we are always trying to replicate everything, and the players know. Like, they’ll want a notch right in a certain spot. They want even a specific time of day; they’ll say 'you’ve got to start stringing it at noon'.

"They’ll even have a lucky racquet and say, 'You’ve got to string this racquet first, string this racquet second'. So it’s definitely a lot of that."

When Downes, a measured 57-year-old American at his 13th AO, explains to strangers what he does for a living, the reaction is often one of surprise. And not just from recreational players who indulge in an annual restring, or novices unaware that replacement strings are even a thing.

So, Jim., you're a professional racquet stringer? Really?

"Most people think machines do this. Machines do do this, but people operate the machine," says Downes. "They haven’t developed a robot that can do this yet. I’m sure some companies are trying.

"Luckily I’m old enough that when it happens I’ll probably be retired. Yeah, there’s a lot of intricate methods that have to be done by hand."

Adds Reeves: "We have state-of-the-art machines, top of the line, and still we have to do all the weaving, measure the strings, cut the strings, tie the knots…

"So all the machine really does is just really securely hold the racquet and it can hold that tension very precisely and then hold that tension with the clamps. The rest, we have to do it all."

An extra element in Melbourne is, naturally, the weather. You know how it goes: scorching hot one minute, cool southerly change sweeping through in the next.

Often, heat and wind equate to requests for a higher tension that offers a little more control. Lower tension in cold conditions helps with power.

The best stringers strike a balance between good and fast, according to Reeves, who says the goal when called upon during matches in progress is to have the racquets off the machine in 12-13 minutes. Super-fast.

And the most demanding/particular players? Let’s just say a few are extreeeemely specific in their requirements.

No names, though. That would be dobbing.

Multiple TV screens in the stringing room allow the Yonex team to monitor events and equipment on court even if the chance to watch live tennis is rare.

Downes, whose 2024 tournament schedule included all four majors and the Olympics, will accept a light-hearted smidgeon of credit for results at the Paris Games, notably gold medalists Qinwen Zheng and Kateřina Siniaková in the mixed and West Australian doubles gun Matt Ebden.

Here, Jeremy Reeves will happily do likewise as an unofficial member of Team Demon. If or when that interminable wait for a homegrown Australian men’s champion finally ends.

*Linda Pearce, the current Harry Gordon Australian Sports Journalist of the Year, is covering her 37th Australian Open and 59th major since 1988. She will be a regular contributor to The First Serve in 2025.

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