Federer stringer Ron Yu: "Our revenues are practically zero"
Ron Yu is 23 grand slam victories - with so many major victories of his charges he prepared the rackets. Yu, like many others in tennis, is largely out of action due to the corona virus.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: May 20, 2020, 02:26 pm
Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer - Ron Yu had his hands in the 23rd Grand Slam victories of these professionals. Or rather: before the game. Namely on the rackets. Yu is employed by Priority One in the United States, once founded by Nate Ferguson, Pete Sampras' racket technician.
Like many in the corona crisis, Yu is doing less work than usual, "our contracts with the players look like they pay us to string and tune when they play. And at tournaments, " Yu said in an interview with the New York Times . "At the moment our earnings are practically zero." Yu strings only one or two for amateur players instead of the usual 25 to 30 rackets per day (at tournaments). And took on another part-time job "that showed me how much I still love tennis".
Many friendly stringers would have lost around 80 to 90 percent of their income. "Even in normal times, you don't get rich with this job. You can perhaps lead a nice, relaxed middle-class life. But at the moment it is hard for the tennis community, for stringers or for business."
"Almost always full speed"
Yu also confirms that the string revolution has changed tennis. "In the old days, when most boys played with natural casings, you couldn't pull as fast as you wanted all the time. Because you lost control after five or six hits. Gut strings are usually very lively." Nowadays, players would have to put a little more topspin in the stroke, "but they almost always hit full pace. Even if it's a tight point, under enormous pressure, they return and hit as hard as they want." Or if someone comes on the net and the opponent pulls a cross-court winner from full speed and full extension. In such cases, he thinks: "There would have been no blow 25 years ago."
His family didn't like the fact that he once gave up his studies to become a stringer. This pain is now almost forgotten. "My mother likes the fact that she can tell her friends in Korea: 'My son is friends with Roger Federer and works with him.' That relieved the pain a bit. "