Testing ReString Zero with Leylah Fernandez and Frances Tiafoe

ReString co-founder, Juan, had a role as a hitting partner at the Mubadala Citi Open. It offered him a thrilling glimpse into the world of professional tennis.

It was a truly unique experience for him to stand on the same court as top-tier athletes and gain firsthand insight into the dedication and determination that drive their success.

As an integral part of player preparation, the sessions were charged with focus, aiding pros in refining their skills to perform in their next matches.

During his weeklong stay at the Open, Juan had the chance to practice with Leylah Fernandez and Frances Tiafoe. Here's what happened and how Zero performed on court.

Aggressive Hitting with Leylah Fernandez

Leylah Fernandez is known for her aggressive baseline play, using powerful groundstrokes and a variety of shots to control rallies.

Using her left-handed game to her advantage, she uses the whole court creatively, mixing in different kinds of spin and playing a lot of angles to challenge her opponents.

What surprised Juan from the start was her attention to spin and the width of the court she used at all distances from the net. They traded short angles going forehand to forehand and backhand to backhand, really practicing getting under the ball and brushing up to get a lot of rotation.

As they settled on the baseline, they spent considerable time practicing opening the court using angles, a tactic she uses very effectively against her opponents to create space and come into the net.

Zero performed exceptionally well in this type of practice for Juan. He found that he was able to brush the ball and make shots dip down on angles with confidence given the excellent snapback potential and shape of the string.

The strings would always come back into place after making contact, offering a consistent launch angle while the six edges of the string allowed for excellent bite and spin generation.

Trading Serves with Frances Tiafoe

Also a very creative player, Tiafoe loves to change up the pace of rallies and dictate the point through an aggressive style, often finishing up at the net with his signature touch volleys.

Going up against Jerry Shang, an energetic lefty who dictates rallies from the baseline, it was important for Tiafoe to get ahead early and play balls deep to push Shang on his back foot.

His request was for Juan to use his left-handed serve into Tiafoe's backhand so that he could practice his deep returns down the middle.

Juan's task was to hit 40 slice serves to Frances' backhand, mixing in both second serves and some faster first serves.

Being a powerful string, Zero packs a great deal of punch especially when going big on serves. That being said, a slice serve actually requires not "punching" the ball so much as "cutting" or "slicing" it to generate the side spin necessary to get that low bounce that escapes from the opponent.

The outstanding snapback quality of Zero really helped enhance these serves by allowing for great spin generation and effect on the ball. The balls left Juan's string bed with that extra amount of rotation, moving away from Tiafoe as the ball made contact with the ground.

Conclusion

Juan's week at the Mubadala Citi Open demonstrated how Zero performs when the stakes are highest.

From generating heavy topspin angles with one of the tour's most aggressive baseline players to crafting precise slice serves for a top American talent, the string delivered consistent performance under professional-level demands.

Try Zero today and see how it can elevate your game.