I (Liam Nolan) was the "last- minute" stringer for this event, the allocated stringer becoming unavailable at short notice. I had covered this venue before back in 2005, they say as you go North, everyone is a lot friendlier and I find this to be true.

The Puma Tennis Centre has 8 indoor courts that are open to the public and the matches attract a good audience. I did some rushed laundry on the Friday evening, played my usual squash doubles at the club that same evening and set the alarm for 7am next day so that I could get down to the club, collect the Babolat Star 4 and equipment and make an early start to the 5 hours journey. I like to arrive around lunchtime as the players are arriving for practice and give myself plenty of time to set up shop. However, on arrival next morning at the club, I was presented with some "rush" rackets, so had to get stringing in a hurry as rule number 1 is never to turn down work! One Pure Drive and two Head Instincts later I was on my way up the A47 and A1, beautiful sunshine, little traffic, ever changing radio channels and sat nav chatting away merrily.

Rackets in on Sat 12th January 2008;

Smethurst - Dunlop Aerogel 500 Tour - Dunlop Dynamite @ 51lbs x 2 - All poly, so very stiff stringbed. Dad tells me that his son has had some arm soreness and thus dropped down in tension, would have been better to have a hybrid of poly and nylon. One of his two rackets had this combination, but he still wanted the all-poly option.
El Menshawy - Volkl DNX 10 - Volkl Vrex Poly mains @ 59lbs, Sensation crosses @ 57lbs
Hodgson - Wilson Blade - Pro Hurricane - 58lbs - I always ask what type of stringing machine they are used to, as the electronic constant pull machines will generally produce a 10% tighter stringbed over the manual types. In this case, he was unaware, so moved his reference tension from 60lbs down to 58lbs. In the end, I chose to drop it further to 56lbs and he went on to win.
Knight - Head Extreme - Head Ultra 16 @ 56lbs - Pleased that it was not the 17 gauge as this breaks very easily at the off-centre areas of the stringbed. 
Knight (for his unnamed mate) Wilson Ncode six-one 95 - same string @ 66lbs - Ouch!!
Zovko - Same racket as above - Signum Pro @24/23kgs - This string has a really bad reputation over in the US for premature breakage (during the actual stringing!) so I will wait to see how it fares, ok so far.
Maris - another six-one - Kirschbaum 1.25 comp @ 28/27kgs
Illingworth - Pure Drive - Big Banger @ 61lbs x 2
Rushby - Head Prestige - TF Redcode @ 60lbs
Sunday -
Cauvard - Wilson Blade - Big Banger Original @26.5kgs
Greco - Wilson six-one 95 - TF Polyspin 1.27 @ 23/22 kgs
Slater - Pure Drive - Pro Hurricane, one @ 60lbs to test, was ok for 2nd racket as well.
Milligan - Babolat AerodProdrive - Pro Hurricane in mains @ 58lbs, Babolat Extra Speed in crosses @ 58lbs.
Elliott - Head Extreme, 4 rackets (2 blacked out) Kirschbaum Proline 11 1.25 @ 53/52lbs
Note - Sometimes you just cannot do ALL rackets by the start of the days matches. In that case you look at the Order Of Play and get the Match rackets done first, the players understand this and are ok with it as it might affect them! The Elliott Head rackets were strung at 20 mins, 19 mins, 17 mins and 16 mins and this included the whole process of cutting out strings, opening packages, inserting string, mounting and stringing, so that shows that the brain gets used to a series of repeated movements.
One foreign Dad and daughter asked about changing Euros and when I found out that as it was Sunday and he would be unlikely to get anything changed, I offered him £20 for some food and he was very grateful!
23 rackets done so far, 7.30pm on Sunday evening, no rackets waiting to be done, one match still on court and I always stay for one hour after the last match, so I will now focus on a nice cool pint of Kronenbourg and maybe a steak somewhere, plus catching up on my latest James Patterson book - my life is simple.
Monday 14th - In at 8am, no rackets waiting, got carried away last evening and did them all! Players are arriving too early for their 9am practice courts or have no practice court booked and are hoping to sqeeze on early for a quick session before the official start. They ask about the still dark courts and I direct them to Reception. Practice balls are ready for them to collect but of course they all want new ones and they would be ripping apart the new boxes if I was not there. As I usually arrive far ahead of the regular tournament staff, it is me who sometimes has to guard the boxes of balls - and everything else.
Miles Kasiri arrives with two Wilson K six-ones, big banger @ 61lbs, Chris Eaton follows with one Pure Drive, some poly string from Strings N Things @ 55lbs. Chris had strung this himself at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, on the new Babolat Sensor there, available to the players and coaches. He had used a two-piece pattern and had tied off twice on one tie-off hole at the head. I used the RTW pattern and explained to him what I was doing and why. I also suggested that as he is resident at the NTC, he and other players might benefit from a chat with Maurice Mosdell, also a Sensor, who will be stringing there this coming weekend at the Junior U18 Masters event.
Emily Webley-Smith popped in to borrow the HEAD stencil, looked beautiful as ever and tells me that her good friend Sarah Borwell is now left Oz and is playing in Atlanta, Georgia.
Richard Bllomfield managed to drop his freshly strung racket over the balcony, right on to the top of the head, causing a crack, so that racket is now dead. Flock of Germany is playing well and seems focused, looks like a good bet for the finals, having his rackets regularly serviced, 25/24kgs with Pacific Polyforce 16g.
By the end of Monday, the racket tally is up to 30.
Tuesday - Started off with a Head Radical for Johanna Larsson of Sweden, a very fit and focused girl who is immensely strong on court. Looks like she has joined the Sutton Tennis Academy squad as she is practising with Anna Smith from there and they are a good doubles pair. Hanneh Jensen of Denmark is using a Prince OZone Seven with Tecnifibre Duramix 1.35 @ 27kgs. Very nice racket, strung one piece, so you have to make sure you have it mounted correctly as it has a left/right side. I still run two crosses off the short side as this does not alter the run of string from the right side.
Wednesday - Flock is down to 23kgs, Bllomfield is doing well with his 63/61lbs, Ian Flanagan, out of singles after losing to Matt Illingworth, still in Doubles, paired up with David Brewer. He brought in a Pure Drive, had no string, so I provided him with a half set of Volkl Rex poly in the mains @ 63lbs and a half set of Wilson Sensation for the crosses @ 61lbs. I even stencilled the racket for him!  He did not survive the next rounds of doubles and did not come back to pay for the stringing! So another name to be added to my little book of people owning me money for stringing and we will meet up later no doubt in 2008.
Racket tally is now 45. Not so many players about now as expected. The official tournament hotel is the Roker, down on the seafront, but there is an abundance of good, modestly priced B&Bs that offer better comfort and these are more popular. A brisk walk on the front at the start and end of a long day is enjoyable. Sunderland, like many other coastal towns, has had a rich fishing industry history, but now all that has largely gone, the large victorian houses on the front bearing testimony to wealthier times. Went out for a late meal at 10pm, to a Thai restaurant in The Roker Hotel, good to be able to have a natter and unwind at the end of the day. Nigel Smethurst, the Physio and I are sharing a room and he has got a tummy bug, so missed out on the meal, although the virus he has does not appear to be in conflict with large quantities of IPA ale. First real ice on the car this evening, snow cannot be far behind.
Thursday - Rainy as usual, not too cold though. Had a racket for Bloomfield to do, took my time on that as any stringing errors are nearly always on the first one of the day. He had a practice hit at 9am, looks ok, chatted about the strings, he is now on court, one set up against David Brewer. Physio is more busy now, with players wanting massages for tired legs and backs.
Friday - In at 8am, one racket for Richard Bloomfield, nice and slow. Watching Aussie Open tennis on BBC, on the laptop. Somehow the laptop on the far side of the room belonging to Peter Finn the referee was running a few seconds slow, so all I had to do to get younger was to wander over to that part of the room!
Bloomfield is presently one set up against Henrik Norfeldt of Sweden in the Mens semis, Alexander Flock of Germany and Adrian Mannarino of France to follow on. Anna Smith, GB, is up 5/2 against Johanna Larsson of Sweden in the ladies 1/4s, Iveta Gerlova (CZE)/Nadja Roma (SWE), Stephane Vongsouth (FRA)/Elena Kulikova (RUS) and Naomi Broady (GB)/Estelle Guisard (FRA) are the others. Having the mens and ladies staggered by one day is good for the stringing workload as it eases the pressure.
Mens Doubles Finals this afternnon, Bloomfield/Skupski (GB) beat Grambow(GER)/Rushby (GB). Ladies Doubles semis at the same time. Of the eleven different players on court today, just eight have been having their rackets strung regularly. At maybe a $15K or $25K Challenger, there would be more work, due in part to the players having more cash and also to the greater importance that these higher ranked players attach to having their rackets in top condition. 
Friday - Now very quiet as regards stringing, just another from Bloomfield and Larsson. Still noisy in the tournament office however, with players and coaches trying to sort out tickets and travel to their next event. Many of the ladies are off to Wrexham and the men to Sheffield.
Saturday - Bloomfield has beaten Mannarino 2/0 in the mens singles final, Larsson (SWE) beat Broady 2/0 in the first ladies semi and Kulikova (RUS) has beaten Roma (SWE) in the second ladies semi. I will check with each of them that they have enough fresh rackets for their match and then pack up and head back to Norwich. Larsson unfortunately is playing in the ladies doubles final at the moment, paired up with Anna Smith (GB), twisted her ankle, got it strapped and now one set up.