This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to Wimbledon
For two weeks of the year, Darren Powell, co-owner of Wimbledon Park Sports in Wimbledon, south-west London, sells towels. Towel upon towel upon towel. Around 2,500 of them, by his estimation. In late June and early July — Wimbledon fortnight — the official Wimbledon court towel, priced at £40, is the single best-selling item in the small but well-stocked specialist racket-sports shop, which this year celebrates four decades on Wimbledon Park Road, the busy thoroughfare that funnels tennis lovers from Southfields Tube to the All England Lawn Tennis Club, home of The Championships, Wimbledon.
For the other 50 weeks of the year, the shop goes about its business, selling all the strings, rackets, balls, grips and sports supports a player, whether recreational or professional, could want. But “when the circus comes to town”, as Powell puts it, Wimbledon Park Sports is “organised chaos”. Powell, who’s working his 24th Wimbledon fortnight this year, and his team of six part-time salespeople and stringers put in extended hours every day to keep shelves stocked.
“Obviously, when you’ve got the best part of 30,000 tennis fans walking past a tennis shop every day, it gets a little busy,” says Powell. “Our normal client base kind of disappears because they either steer clear of Southfields or can’t park, and [the area] turns into a tourist and tennis fan hotspot. People just love being here. It’s almost a responsibility to uphold tennis retail and tennis in general.”
I visit the shop during the French Open in early June, shortly before the tour makes the switch from clay to grass. Already Powell is busy stringing rackets for the professional players who’ve arrived early to tune up for Wimbledon.
“This is an important one,” he says. It’s for Harriet Dart, the current British number five. Hanging behind the counter are three freshly strung blue Dunlops, destined for Australian player Alexei Popyrin.
Over the years, Powell has strung for sporting legends including all the Big Three (Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic), Andy Murray, Emma Raducanu and Venus Williams. He generally doesn’t string for players during the fortnight itself — Wimbledon has its own official stringers on site — but provides other emergency services, such as supplying spare grass shoes (“We’re always getting agents or manufacturers on the phone asking, “You haven’t got a size 13 in this shoe, have you?”) and extra reels of string.
I’ve brought my racket over from east London for a long overdue MOT, not only because I like to support small pro shops — the expertise and tennis-insider chat is worth paying a little extra for — but because I’m fool enough to believe something in the SW19 air might cure my ailing backhand. Powell can’t help with that, but he can offer his advice on some of the questions most frequently asked by amateur players.
How do I go about choosing a new racket?
Even advanced players don’t necessarily know exactly what racket they want. We would ask a series of questions to try and ascertain the player’s level then go from there. A lot of stores will maybe have a promotion on a particular racket but we try to be more impartial and I think the customers appreciate that. The staff all play which is important because it’s such a specialist environment. You have to have a bit of passion for what you’re selling. We also offer a demo service; people can take away a demo racket, hit with it, and get a feel for it, or try out a few — that’s very popular.
What’s your most popular racket?
Currently the top two brands [we sell most of to regular players] are Babolat and Wilson, then Yonex and Head. Our bestselling rackets are the Babolat Pure Drive and probably the Wilson Blade, the one you see a lot of players on tour using. It’s very rare that a player will be using an off-the-shelf racket. Their rackets are normally an older frame that the manufacturers have kept making just for the player, painted up to match the current model.
How many rackets do I need?
It depends on the level of the player. Beginners and recreational players just need one; they’re not going to be breaking strings, they’re not playing tournaments, and budget is an issue. A club player might want two in case a string breaks in the middle of a set. More advanced players might have three or four. Pros have about 12.
How long will my racket last?
The average for most people is probably three to four years. You can keep restringing them and re-gripping them so they last pretty well for that reason. Every time you hit the ball, the frame flexes very slightly so, after two to three years, it does get a bit dead and a bit tired.
How often should I have my racket restrung?
The general rule is that you should get it strung as many times in a year as you play in a week. Strings lose their elasticity after a while. Players don’t necessarily realise that through the course of playing with a racket for six months until their wrist starts hurting or they get tennis elbow. More often than not, it’s because the strings are dead.
What string set-up should I go for?
It’s very subjective. We’ll normally ask the player what their game style is. From there you can choose a family of strings, then narrow it down to one or two particular strings within that family. Basically, different strings [such as polyester, multi-filament, natural gut and synthetic gut] do different jobs. Some of the synthetic strings are round, twisted or shaped or roughened to enhance spin. You can mix two strings together on the mains [the vertical strings] and the crosses [the horizontal strings] for durability, playability and spin all in one restring. Tension is important too. Basically, a looser tension will give more power. A higher tension will give more precision.
Is it worth paying extra for natural gut?
We string a lot of natural gut. A lot of it is at the pro end. We charge about £55 for a natural-gut restring [around double the cost of polyester] and it doesn’t last very long; that soon adds up. The feel you get from natural gut string is much better than any synthetic string. It’s a bit like travelling first class: once you’ve done it, you can’t go back. The majority of professional players use full polyester strings, then some will use natural gut in a hybrid [different strings on the mains and crosses].”
Can you cure my tennis elbow?
Tennis elbow is down to a number of factors: technique is one, strings another, and the racket itself too. The strings could be the wrong type of string for your game; they could be dead. The racket might be the wrong type for your game. Some rackets are a bit stiffer than others. In fact, if the racket is too light, that’s often more a cause of tennis elbow than if it’s too heavy. Because the frame of the very light rackets is in effect hollow, they have to strengthen the frame to compensate, so it’s really stiff.
What balls do you recommend and how often should I replace them?
There are different balls for different surfaces. Wilson US Open is probably the best hard-court ball; they will give the most durability. The Slazenger Wimbledon is an iconic ball, an all-court kind of ball. We stock those all year round but sell a lot more during the two weeks. Tennis-ball quality over the past five or six years has definitely dropped a little bit. They will last one match, one day, then you can’t really reuse them. Some people want fresh balls every time, but it’s the cost at the end of the day; usually you can use balls twice, then they’re finished.”
Do you sell padel and pickleball bats?
We literally started selling pickleball bats a few weeks ago because it hasn’t really taken off in this area. Padel, we’ve done for the last couple of years. We sell a lot of padel bats. Sales aren’t growing as quickly as the game itself, because first-time players are renting or borrowing rackets. It takes a little time to take the plunge and buy the first one.”
Can I wear my running shoes for tennis?
Ideally you should wear specific tennis shoes for a few reasons. The support in a tennis shoe is designed for lateral movement, whereas running shoes are for forward momentum. Tennis shoes offer lateral support to stop you twisting your ankle. They also need a non-marking outsole so you don’t leave big marks on the court. You can get shoes with a specific tread for clay or grass, but at [amateur level] you don’t need really need them – the majority of shoes are what’s classed as all-court shoes
What’s the one thing I could invest in to improve my game today?
Some lessons! An hour with a pro to iron out issues with technique.
Wimbledon Park Sports, 260 Wimbledon Park Rd, London SW19 6NW. Website; Directions
Where do you go in London for your tennis kit? We’d love to hear your recommendations in the comments below.
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