Meet the man who strings Roger Federer's rackets

By the time Roger Federer steps onto a tennis court, it's already been a long day for Ron Yu. For the last 15 years, in non-descript hotel rooms around the world, Yu has personally strung Federer's rackets -- nine fresh ones per match. Most pros just use local stringers provided by the tournament, and that was good enough for the players who made this year's U.S. Open finals. But for a hefty fee, some elite players hire one stringer to follow them around the world. Brook Silva-Braga reports.

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[GauravGRocks]

3:50 "CHA-CHING" I love this guy, he understands business and doesn't have to time to be upset.

[rogefedwon]

Imagine those two guys in a hotel stringing the racquets of Federer and Djokovic before they play each other.

[your_homie]

3:50 i was expecting him to be like "oh its devestating...we put so much hours for the racquet...its not easy" but his answer is gold hats off to the lad😂😂😂😂

[ZekeValk]

This guy Roman, who customizes the racquets, reminds me of the guy who hands out the wands in Harry Potter.

[LaPlus-Value]

3:50
Journalist: and when you watch a guy smash it on the court what do you feel?
Him: Stonks

[mikerzisu]

As a former competitive tennis player, stringing makes a big difference in how the racket feels and behaves. A good string job gives you more confidence because the ball feels better after coming off the racket. Hard to explain if you haven't played a lot, but this is certainly a factor

[jc-vugn]

"what hppn if they smashed ur racket?"
i thought he gonna be like "oh man that breaks my heart every single time"
reality : "CHI-CHING!!!"

[agradina]

man did i see it corectly the stringer of djokovic and federer are both in the same hotel room???? what is going on?

[makronusse]

2019: adds 9.1 gram weight to balance it

3019: adds of string to make the ball go 0.000037mm further to the right

[patricklustado]

As someone who strings their own racquets, Roman Prokes and Ron Yu are my absolute idols in racquet customization.


It must be known that pros do not get the same retail racquets available to the public and that when they "switch" racquets, they are switching the paint jobs that while keeping the racquet the same.


If players were constantly changing racquets every year, their shots would be different even with the same specs due to the mold of the racquet. However, Federer is the one of the few who changes their racquets, but he has a lot of feedback that influences the retail racquet. This is evident when Wilson the all black Prostaff RF 97A but when the "tuxedo" colorway came out, he was dissatisfied and changed back to the all black. This was because the molds were different.

[Bgbadminton]

Quote of the day
"KA-CHING, More Money"
Remember it folks

[Andre-Vids]

00:36 you can see the power pads
1:24 and there are the string savers
3:44 Thats the racket Federer used from 2007-2009, ironically, also its the one he used to smash when in 2009, what the reporter may have been talking about later in the interview

[akshaydg]

We expected him to say my soul gets crushed,
But he's like
Epic 🤣🤣

[michael]

Roger Federer also has a guy conditioning his spaghetti when he eats pasta...
If the noodles are not properly layed out before he's rolling them up, it could lead to a wrist injury.
The fork also has to be balanced properly to guarantee a perfect scoop every time.

[brendboer]

I now know more about Roger Federer's racket stringer than I do abour Roger Federer

[vishalprakash]

They really are the'unstrung'heroes of tennis.

[TTkoKKmo]

The mindset of Japanese athletes is so different from the rest of the world. Smashing rackets for them as a release of frustration and the makers of the tennis racket and people who string them consider it as source of income and more money. In Japan the athletes consider destroying of sports equipment as disrespectful to the people who makes the equipment. Suzuki Ichiro one time broke his baseball bat out of frustration. He latter apologize to the maker of the bat and never did it again.

[corneliaedgerton]

So that's what stands between me and ATP championship: a personal stringer

[bluemont]

did that lady @4:05 have to duck behind the table to stay out of the next shot? Prayers up that she didn't get fired

[sidhanthmishra]

Novak reduced his swingweight from 370 to 364. His new racquet is slightly longer, lighter and the string pattern is 18x19 (earlier 18x20). Interestingly Medvedev uses a 18x19 too (similar strokes to Djokovic).