At its booth for the 2017 Australian Open, Yonex has paid homage to its Japanese roots with a peaceful Zen garden while attracting fans with a fast-paced “String Shooter” VR game.
As unstrung rackets descend from the sky, players have 45 seconds to shoot string through the heads of as many rackets as possible. Five points are awarded for each successful shot. Lime-green bonus rackets count for 15 points. Every visitor that plays the “String Shooter” VR game receives a folding fan as a gift. The grand prize for the player who achieves the highest score at the end of each day of the tournament is a Yonex tennis racket strung by the Yonex Stringing Team.
This Australian Open marks the second consecutive year that the Yonex Stringing Team has acted as the tournament’s Official Stringer. Using the PROTECH8, an electric stringing machine, the team features veteran stringers from around the globe.
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“What is important is to make sure each racquet has exactly the same tension, so that even if the strings breaking during the match, players can use a new racquet with no big differences in feeling,” Yonex stringer Shinji Nakamura said last week of the demand for product consistency.
The Japanese equipment manufacturer boasts a talented roster of tennis players including Stan Wawrinka (SUI), Nick Kyrgios (AUS) and Angelique Kerber (GER), the Australian Open defending champion and top seed who lost Sunday in the fourth round.