Pin Lay was born in East Timor in 1971, although his documents say 1975.
He is arguably the best stringer in Australia, working at his 11th Australian Open. But into his account there are 2 Olympics, several UsOpen and David Cup ties. Every year at Melbourne Park he string approximately 500 racquets. But above all he's in change of Rafael Nadal's Babolat.
However, before becoming the man who looks after the racquets of the world's top players, he was an athlete himself in his native country, before leaving everything behind in the late 90s to flee to Australia, as the political situation turned catastrophic in East Timor.
Grandson of a Chinese immigrant into East Timor, he represented his native island playing badminton in competitions against the other 29 provinces of Indonesia.
Pin Lay Source: SBS Italian
"I played from '89 to '94/'95 until the sponsor went bankrupt. After that we kept playing but we did not take it seriously anymore" he told SBS Italian on the sidelines of the Australian Open.
When he arrived to Australia his badminton career was already over:
"I came to Australia after I got married but I did not play much. I tried but I got injured and I stopped" he said.
But in the meantime he developed a different career, since his early days as a badminton player.
It all started in the late 80s, when he was training in Indonesia, outside of East Timor: "I was breaking a lot of strings and I brought my racquet to a shop and that is when I saw my first stringing machine. But before that I had to repair and string my racquet without the machine. I had to string it just by hand and some bamboo and some hood to make some tension" he said.
"When I saw the stringing machine I thought: 'how cool'".
The "encounter" with the machine inspired his next move. Pin went back to East Timor and started stringing badminton and tennis racquets in his shop in Dili – capital of the island -. He bought his first stringing machine from a shop that was closing down and two years later acquired a second one. He learned the trade, he said.
Stan Wawrinka and Pin Lay Source: Courtesy of Pin Lay
Then in the late 90s, the political situation became increasingly tense in East Timor, in particular in the lead-up and as a consequence of the independence referendum that was held in East Timor on 30 August 1999 during which voters choose separation from Indonesia. As a consequence, violence erupted in what is called East Timorese crisis.
"Before the elections I came to Australia to avoid that [the consequences of the election]", Pin Lay said. "I left my house and my business back. It was not only stringing, but [it was also] a also bicycle shop and even food".
He had family in Australia and he moved initially to Darwin and then to Melbourne.
"I had a tourist visa as I had two sisters who could sponsor me".
"At that time there were not many asylum seekers from East Timor, so they asked me if I wanted to apply for a protection visa", he said.
According to him, he was one of the last people from East Timor coming to Australia before Canberra started trying to stop them.
When he arrived, Pin could speak Bahasa, Mandarin and a little Portuguese.
"I came to Australia with no English so I had to learn it. After 4 or 5 months studying English the school offered working experiences", he remembers.
The first work experience was in a bicycle shop, where he could apply his existing skills. They offered him a full-time job but he refused as he needed to keep studying English. The second work experience would prove to be a game changer.
It was at Prelli, a well-established tennis shop in Collingwood. "The boss Lou [Lou Smarrelli] after seeing that I could string, offered me a part time job". After 20 years, Pin Lay still works at Prelli.
Pin Lay Source: SBS Italian
In the meantime his status in Australia was progressing. In 2005 he acquired permanent residence.
But how did he become the stringer of top players at the Australian Open?
"I worked for Lou for 10 years, as you need those skills to become a Grand Slam stringer".
And finally Pin started working for both the tennis and badminton Australian Open in 2009, but he did not start stringing for the top players immediately.
"You have to start gradually. On the first year you start with the qualifiers, all players. I remember that that time I strung from Tsonga".
This year it is Pin's 11th Australian Open.
"In 2009 I did Australian Open tennis and then the US Open and then China Open".
Pin also joined the Australian team for the Davis cup and he worked at two Olympics, London 2012 and Rio 2016. And in the meantime he continued stringing for badminton.
But how many racquets does he string during the Australian Open tournament?
"Roughly probably about 30 to 40 racquets every day during the qualifiers. Long hours, from 6am to 1:30am"
And how many during the whole tournament?
"Probably 400 to 500 racquets", he said.
"I have got Rafael Nadal so I cannot string a lot of other players".
And top players string a lot.
"We have Serena Williams and for every match you have 10, 11 racquets so you cannot have too many players in case they happen to play at the same time, because every player requests same machine and same stringer".
And how did Nadal pick him?
"He did not pick me. Last year there was no issue with my stringing so I am doing it again".
And he worked with most tennis star, except for one: "The only player I haven't strung for is Roger [Federer], because he has his own stringer".
(You can listen to the full interview with Pin Lay realised by SBS'Dario Castaldo clicking play on our audio player).
