MASON, Ohio — Every year, the best tennis players in the world come to Mason for the Western & Southern Open.
“I’m having a good season. I am enjoying,” 22-time Grand Slam Title winner Rafael Nadal said. "I want to enjoy this week here in Cincinnati."
Thousands attend the tournament, but the people with the best view of the greats are actually chasing them. They're the ball kids.
“My dad was like, 'This is the best ticket ever and you can get it for free — why not do it?'” ball kid Leon Bao said.
Starting at age 12, kids from the greater Cincinnati area can try out to be ball "kids," though most are in their early- to mid-20s.
“Ball men, ball kids, I’ll call it whatever the badge says,” said Ethan Arenstein, ball kid coordinator and former ball boy.
Divyesh Valamurali, a 23-year-old ball kid, said many are starting to feel the impact of squatting, running and performing whatever other tasks are required of them.
“A lot of us are starting to get old and feel like it’s hitting our bones and we can’t sustain, but we have a lot of old kids — it’s to fun to let go of," Valamurali said.
Volunteering allows them the chance to live out a tennis fan's dream.
“I worked Roger (Federer), Rafa (Rafael Nadal). I want to say it was like 2013, 2012,” said 25-year-old ball kid Alec Fissette.
“The last time Federer came, it was the first time I ever had done one of his matches,” Bao said. "It was with Rublev and he lost."
In order to get up and close to the greats, the ball kids have to go through a try-out.
“We get pretty competitive out there,” Bao said.
Try-outs consist of light conditioning, solidifying that participants understand the rules of tennis, and explaining the responsibilites of being a ball kid. Maybe the most important part of a ball kid’s job has nothing to do with retrieving the ball.
“Both the players are sitting there — whatever the players need the ball kid gets,” Arenstein said.
Truly, whatever they need.
“A few years ago, Venus Williams motioned over to me, said, ‘Hey ball boy' ... she was like, 'Can I get some coffee?'” Bao said. "And that was the wildest request I’ve ever gotten."
No matter how strange the requests, the ball kids know they're getting a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"I don’t know any other sport that offer such a large scale opportunity for young kids to come out here," said Arenstein. "You don’t even need to know how to play tennis."
READ MORE
Next owner vows to bring 'the best resources' to Western & Southern Open
Western & Southern Open requires fan to remove Ukraine flag she was wearing at match between Russian players
Serena Williams loses to 2021 U.S. Open winner Emma Raducanu at Western & Southern
