When I was five, my dad took me to a park in New York City and put a racket in my hand. “Just hit the ball,” he said. And I did. From then on, my love for tennis was born. Since I started playing, my aspirations for what I wanted to get out of this sport have changed.
When I was young, I dreamed of playing in the US Open, a tournament in my backyard that I had grown up watching with my dad. However, as I got older, I still wanted to have a presence on the court, but I didn’t want to be a pro. These past few years, I have decided to involve myself in other ways, such as teaching kids lessons and ballpersoning. I still love competing fiercely on Groton’s girls tennis team and look forward to it every spring; however, I want to go beyond just being a player.
The past two summers, I have been a ballperson at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina. The Winston-Salem Open is the last ATP tournament before the US Open. During the pandemic, I lived with my grandparents in North Carolina for seven months to train. Throughout this time, I became involved with the tennis community in North Carolina. Many of the people I used to play with are also ballpersons at this tournament, and it’s nice to reconnect with them.
Before being a ballperson, I never looked twice at the other people on the court besides the players. However, as I trained to become a ballperson, I realized there is a lot of intention and thinking that goes into servicing the players. Typically, I am one of the ball people who stand behind the baseline. My specific job is to give the players balls when they serve and during warmups, and of course, chase after any stray balls that come my way. During changeovers, I’m also responsible for holding the umbrella and getting the players water and any other items they need. In my opinion, I have the best seat on the court because I’m able to watch the players up close— sometimes a little too close.
Behind every ballperson team, there is a lot of strategizing behind shifting the balls around the court. You always have to make sure all the balls are on the side of the server and that each of the backball people have the same amount of tennis balls. After each point, we roll the balls to their respective places. Another challenge is communicating without speaking. There are various signals we give each other which helps us locate all the balls and ensure the players are satisfied and serviced. You know that a ballperson is doing their job well if you can’t even tell they’re there.