From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.

Re-stringing tennis rackets is a rare kind of service to be found in Tonga, but it is provided by Siosifa and Donna Taumoepeau, who  live in Longolongo.

Donna said that her husband decided to start this business about five years ago, because he loves playing tennis and regularly changes his tennis racket strings.

“He thought why not string our own tennis rackets, and that way we save a bit of money from taking it overseas for repairs and at the same time earn a bit of income by re-stringing other people’s rackets as well.”

They bought a re-stringing machine from the United States and learned the skills. The machine holds the racket in place, and Donna said the stringing was a tricky task because both sides had to be equally balanced all the way up, otherwise the racket would break.

“Siosifa perfected in the technique, and then he taught me how. We are offering a good quality tennis racket re-stringing service… people overseas pay up to $100 dollars for the same kind of service,” said Donna, who charges only $15.

Donna serves tennis clubs, high school students and other customers, “and with summer approaching I expect to see more coming in,” she said.