Australian ball kids reveal tennis stars’ strange on-court quirks
Being a ball kid is serious business, especially when professional tennis players like Maria Sharapova and Richard Gasquet have bizarre on-court quirks that must be respected.
Tennis
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Being a ball kid is serious business.
From 14-hour shifts on court in 40C heat to getting caught in the crossfire of player dummy spits, the job is not for the faint hearted.
Today, as the world’s best tennis stars take the court for the ATP Cup, so too will 235 ball kids across Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
Experienced ball kids Zoe Dutch-Catherine, 16, and Orlando Manciameli, 14, can’t wait to get up close and personal with their idols but said the gig is harder than it looks.
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“It’s all about timing, you’ve got to roll balls, give players the towel and water, but you’re also seeing your idols up close, so there’s a lot to focus on,” Dutch-Catherine said.
“And you’ve got to be professional and not cheer for your favourite players.”
To become a ball kid, kids aged 11-17 must pass four tough training camps with a focus on servicing the player, technique, rolling, accuracy and communication.
Ball kids must be confident working on the net servicing players with towels and water, as well as on the base where they retrieve balls and service players during the change of ends.
“You also have to know the player’s little quirks, like most players want their towel straight, but others like Richard Gasquet want you to give it to them bunched up,” Dutch-Catherine said.
“And Maria Sharapova likes all her balls to one side, so to one of the base ball kids,” Manciameli said.
But, keeping focus can be hard when you’re officiating big matches in hot conditions and when play drags on into the early hours of the morning.
“Once I got a bit too relaxed on court, I drank red Gatorade while rolling a ball and spilt it everywhere. We had to stop play so we could clean it up, I was so embarrassed.” Manciameli said.
“I’ve had to leave the court because I overheated. Another time my friend hot hit in the face by a Sam Groth serve,” Dutch-Catherine said.