STRINGING AT THE NASDAQ-100 OPEN {2004}

By Vince Chiarelli, PTR, MRT and Owner of String Along With Vince in Largo

HOW I SPENT MY SPRING "VACATION"

I thought my readers might like a change of pace from the usual equipment column. First, let me tell you, this was NO vacation. I arrived at the Crandon Park Tennis Center in Key Biscayne on Friday afternoon (March 19th). This was several days before the qualification rounds began.

When I got there, the stringing team was already in full swing. Already present were Ron Kohn, owner of Top Serve Tennis in Sydney, Australia, his Top Gun, Steve Harris, Stewart Allwright (STRINGLAB, Hobart, Tasmania), Sam Chan and his wife, Corrie, from London England (head stringer for the Wimbledon Championships) and Mike Ludwig of Stuart, FL, who had worked with the "Aussies" at the NASDAQ in 2003. The "non-stringers" were Bob Daelemans, Executive Director of Luxilon Sports (our sponsor), his right hand man, Dirk Van Haele and Isabella Kohn, Ron's wife who with Corrie and Rebecca, comprised our front counter staff. We also got help from Dirk's wife, Heike when needed. Everyone just pitched in. Even Bob gave a hand doing whatever was necessary when needed.

I started stringing as soon as I was introduced to the crew. It took a while to get into it because the stringing machines were different from what I was accustomed to, as well as the stringing pattern we used (so all racquets would be consistent) was one I had not used before. We wound up around midnight and went to the house we called home for the next two plus weeks. Starting at eight am on Saturday, I thought, "This might not be so bad, being able to get around 6 hours sleep is unusual when stringing at a tournament". By the time Sunday rolled around, when the last four of the team arrived, the party was over. The new "guys" were Albert Lee, from Washington, D.C., another Wimbledon stringer, Ralph Kusche (Ralph's Rapid Racquets, Palm Bay, FL) chosen for this year's Wimbledon team, Rick and Rebecca Cannan (Racquet Central, Pompano Beach, FL).

We worked in what I am pleased to say, rather comfortable conditions, within the stadium, about 30 feet from the players entrance to the stadium court. We sometimes finished as late as three AM, and needed to be back to work at seven AM on most days once the qualification rounds began. I'm not going to tell you it was easy, because it wasn't, but I can honestly say I have never worked with a group of people, in any situation, where I felt more a part of a team than with these people.

Everyone would go out of his way to help whoever needed it without a thought about who would benefit from the effort. We all knew that the only thing that mattered was getting the job done to the highest level of professionalism possible. I haven't mentioned any of the pros we strung for, because you all know their names--from the number one men and women players in the world on down. I wanted to help you understand that there are pros that the pros depend on to keep them playing. I wanted to let you know who some of them are and how proud I am to have been associated with such a team of true professionals. I salute each and every one of them.

Copyright 2004 (Previously published in FLORIDA TENNIS - June, 2004)
By Vince Chiarelli, PTR, MRT, Owner of String Along With Vince, Largo, FL