24
SQUASH
SQUASH - GRASSHOPPER CUP 2017 - Nick Down
Spent a day and a half on the road travelling to Zurich arriving in the evening on the 1st May ready to set up the next morning at the Puls 5 centre in the centre of Zurich , the venue for the 2017 PSA 100K ' Grasshopper Cup '. This was a first visit for me , to this rapidly growing tournament , and was as much a scoping exercise for me as anything else to see if it is suitable to pursue in future years . A great draw with the top four players in the world seeded 1 to 4 . I was asked to string here by a Wilson , who ' s leading sponsored player is Switzerland ' s Nicolas Muller and this is his Home City , they were also launching a brand new line of rackets on day 1 of the tournament . The tournament was a sell out from day one . Only a 16 draw and a schedule that used one all glass court in the evenings only ; doors open from about 4pm . The tournament organisers advertised my services about 6 weeks prior to the event encouraging spectators to bring their rackets and have them strung whilst they watch the pros . Business ticked over nicely throughout the five days with about a 50 / 50 mix of players and spectators rackets . I was placed very close to the court and was able to keep an eye on the matches too . Greg Gaultier of France won the event , his 5th consecutive world tour title ( at the age of 33 ), I ' ve been stringing for Greg since 2007 at various events , currently he uses Tecnifibre 305 1.1 , at only 7kgs ! He ' s been playing at that low tension for about the last 5 years to my knowledge and it must suit him because as of 1st June he will become World no . 1 again for about his 3rd or 4th stint . It was interesting to see the popularity of Swiss no . 1 Nici Mueller in his home venue , he was followed by a TV crew from a national channel , and had fantastic support all week , he played well and narrowly lost to current World no . 1 Mohammed El Shorbagy of Egypt in 5 sets after leading 2-1 . I even made it onto Swiss TV , for a split second , whilst discussing a restring with Nici Mueller ! It ' s a great tournament , with plans to expand next year by adding a ladies draw alongside the Men , it ' s definitely going to
24
SQUASH
SQUASH - GRASSHOPPER CUP 2017 - Nick Down
Spent a day and a half on the road travelling to Zurich arriving in the evening on the 1st May
ready to set up the next morning at the Puls 5 centre in the centre of Zurich, the venue for the
2017 PSA 100K 'Grasshopper Cup'. This was a first visit for me, to this rapidly growing tourna-
ment, and was as much a scoping exercise for me as anything else to see if it is suitable to pur-
sue in future years. A great draw with the top four players in the world seeded 1 to 4. I was asked
to string here by a Wilson, who's leading sponsored player is Switzerland's Nicolas Muller and
this is his Home City, they were also launching a brand new line of rackets on day 1 of the tour-
nament. The tournament was a sell out from day one. Only a 16 draw and a schedule that used
one all glass court in the evenings only; doors open from about 4pm. The tournament organisers
advertised my services about 6 weeks prior to the event encouraging spectators to bring their
rackets and have them strung whilst they watch the pros. Business ticked over nicely throughout
the five days with about a 50/50 mix of players and spectators rackets. I was placed very close
to the court and was able to keep an eye on the matches too. Greg Gaultier of France won the
event, his 5th consecutive world tour title (at the age of 33), I've been stringing for Greg since
2007 at various events, currently he uses Tecnifibre 305 1.1, at only 7kgs! He's been playing at
that low tension for about the last 5 years to my knowledge and it must suit him because as of
1st June he will become World no.1 again for about his 3rd or 4th stint. It was interesting to see
the popularity of Swiss no.1 Nici Mueller in his home venue, he was followed by a TV crew from
a national channel, and had fantastic support all week, he played well and narrowly lost to cur-
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