From Michael Lynne’s to Melbourne: Elden Lee Is Stringing for the World’s Best
Elden Lee, a Harding Senior High School alum who played college tennis at Hamline, began working as a stringer at Michael Lynne’s four years ago.
Now, he’s stringing for the best players on the planet. We caught up with Elden to hear about his opportunities, experiences, and stringing insight for customers.
You recently strung for the world’s best at the Australian Open and at the BNP Paribas Open. How did you get that opportunity?
Yeah, so funny enough I actually had the opportunity to string at the Australian Open because one of the sales reps at Yonex had come into our shop to visit and stop by since he knew Michael pretty well. He had a phone call during that time and another coworker overhead that they were looking for stringers for the Australian Open. Jokingly, he stated that we had one that would be qualified to do it—which turned out to be me. We exchanged information and from then on it was smooth sailing. For the BNP Paribas, I met someone who’s done many tournaments within the U.S and outside of the U.S and he was impressed with my work and wanted to see me string more, so he invited me out to do the BNP Paribas and put in a good word for me.
Elden Lee (near the back and second from left) says all the stringers became “like a family” at the Australian Open.
What were those experiences like?
Obviously, going to the Australian Open as your first tournament comes with so many nerves. I wasn’t sure how it was going to be, if it was going to be a one and done tournament or it’ll open doors for me to do other tournaments—which luckily it did. Once I met the team and we all opened up to each other, it was like another family. We all got along and meshed really well together so it was a special experience.
There were times the stringers were able to interact with the players on their needs and the times they wanted their racquets and their tension. The most notable was definitely Madison Keys in Australia and Jack Draper in Indian Wells, as they both ended up winning their respective tournaments. As a stringer, that’s something to be proud of and hold above your head.
Photo credit: Elden Lee
Can it get pretty intense during the tournaments when they rush in with racquets? How quickly can you get them done and how do you stay calm?
It definitely can get intense in the early stages of the tournament such as qualifying and early rounds, but slowly eases up as people start to lose throughout the tournament. When players send in a rush racquet or on-court racquet, it definitely can be pretty intense as we have to get the racquet done and sent out as quickly as we can. Obviously we try our best to have the same stringer string the players racquet, but sometimes that isn’t the case and it’s who’s available. When I had to do on-court racquets, I did the majority of them in 10-11 minutes. A way that I am able to stay calm about doing those racquets is that I just tell myself it’s another racquet.
How often should players get their racquets restrung?
Usually for customers, the general rule of thumb is depending on how many times you play throughout the week is how many times you should get a racquet strung. For example, if you play three times a week, then you should get a racquet strung every four months before the string goes dead.
Any advice on which string and what tension is best?
It truly depends — every player has their own needs. The average club player won’t be hitting the ball as hard as a professional player. For the average club player, I usually recommend a synthetic gut or multifilament as they’re easier to play with and not taxing on the body. Tension wise, I like to recommend the middle tension for the racquet. Every racquet has a recommended tension range varying from company to company, but the best mix of power and control is the middle tension, then depending if the player wants more control or power, we can adjust the tension the next time around when they get a racquet string.
How did you get into stringing and why do you enjoy it?
I went to a seminar for my tennis program (St. Paul Urban Tennis). Curiosity led me to ask and eventually get taught how to string from instructors. At first, I wasn’t the best or the fastest. There was definitely a learning curve compared to where I’m at now. When I first started I roughly did a racquet in an hour or two. I enjoy stringing because it's behind the scenes for tennis players as many people either don’t know how it’s done or haven’t seen it in person before so it’s always something nice to show.
When did you start working at Michael Lynne’s?
I started working at Michael Lynne’s in March of 2021, I had heard from my head coach that they needed stringers for the shop, so I called to express my interest and picked up an application the following weekend. Ever since then I’ve stuck around and am happy to call that home base for the time being. Everyone that works there gets along super well and it’s a great community for people that are coming out of state or for those who are in state.
Anything else you’d like to add?
If anyone, doesn't matter how old you are, if you have a goal that you want to achieve—if it was to travel, start a business or even play sports professionally—then make it a reality. For me a dream of mine was to play tennis professionally, but obviously that fell short. I found myself doing the behind the scenes for other professional tennis players that pave the way for younger generations to come.
