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Beauty Of Standing Still

What if I told you that one person could potentially go unnoticed by the causal onlooker, but hold enough power with one tennis ball to potentially destroy a professional’s chances of winning?

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Beauty Of Standing Still
The Shelter Network

What if I told you that one person could go unnoticed by the causal onlooker, but hold enough power with one tennis ball to potentially destroy a professional’s chances of winning? Would you believe me? You probably would not believe me and think I am exaggerating and stretching the truth. However, tennis is a gentleman’s sport, not only for the player’s, but for the officials calling the lines and the ball boys. Many people are needed for a professional tournament to operate. People off the streets, volunteers like you and me, people from all different backgrounds and walks of life, come together for one week every summer to help run a prestigious professional tennis tournament at Rock Creek Park in the nation’s capital. The Citi Open is the name of this tournament that hosts both professional male and female tennis players every year one week of the scorching D.C. summer heat. Any person can simply fill out an application, undergo one weekend of training, and be a part of something larger than themselves while witnessing the beauty and competiveness of professional tennis at the same time.

One may ask, what is a “ball boy”? The term is quite ironic in itself. Many tournaments use the phrase ball boys or even ball kids. So, can these ball boys be girls or is the term defining for who may be one? Ball boys can be of any gender and age. At the Citi Open, the minimum age requirement to work as one is fourteen. At the age of fourteen I began to work and volunteer as one for the Citi Open and have every summer since then.

For those unfamiliar with tennis, the sport is similar to golf on the professional level in the sense that you are not allowed to talk during the points and in the middle of play. The viewers can also not leave their seats until there is an appropriate stoppage in play at a changeover when the players will switch sides. This means that we ball boys working the matches have to abide by those standards as well. One movement from from an audience member can halt play and distract the players. We ball boys hold an even greater power than the fans and viewers. We get to be on the court, in the background but always there. If we go unnoticed, then we are probably doing a good job. In the case of being a ball boy, any press is not good press. Good press for us ball boys is none at all. We should not be noticed on court doing our job. The player’s playing are the main attraction, and we ball boys are merely aiding their ability to have the match run smoothly and efficiently. If a ball boy is noticed, they are probably halting play for some reason.

The relationship between ball boys and players is non-verbal, but highly beneficial to both parties. Actually, the players can talk to us, but we are not allowed to talk back to them. When I am on court with some of my favorite players, I wish I could ask, “Why did you hit that shot there?” or “Can you please win so I can get to watch you play more?” However, I am left concealing these thoughts in my head as I have to keep focused on the job at hand while I am on court with some of the top athletes in the sport. The players are allowed to essentially say anything they want while on court. Cussing is generally off limits, but when the player approaches the back corner to towel off and gather balls to serve, the chair umpire on the other side of the court is clueless to what could be said because they cannot hear what is being spoken. On court, I have heard players talk to themselves to pump themselves up, cuss at themselves, cuss out their parents and coaches supporting them, and say some funny things. The most difficult part of being a ball boy is when a player says something you wish you could respond to.

One time I was on stadium court, ball boying for Russian tennis pro Dmitry Tursunov. Tursunov is quite the character, and loves putting on a show for the crowd as much as he loves winning the match at hand as well. During the player’s change of ends, us ball boys are supposed to run in to where the players sit down, open up an umbrella to shade the player, turn on a fan, and be at their call if they should need another towel, an ice towel, or drink from the cooler. Dmitry was losing and as anyone would feel when things are not going their way he was rather frustrated. As the clock strikes the hour on the dot, we ball boys rotate shifts and take breaks as a new team of people relieve us of our duties. As teams switch and rotate on and off, we inform the incoming team of any special perks the player’s on court may have. For example, some players have special drinks in the coolers, and have certain routines that we ball boys have to be aware of that are unique to them individually. The team we were coming on to relieve informed my group that Dmitry did not prefer the fan to be turned. As I was double checking that all of my team was in their proper positions during the changeover, Dmitry decided he had changed his mind regarding the fan.

“You know they put those here for a reason,” Dmitry stated with an annoyed attitude.

As one of my ball boy teammates scurried over to turn on the fan, Dmitry was still not satisfied. Unfortunately, as my teammate hurried over to quickly turn the fan on he accidentally turned the fan on while also turning the notch to have the fan come on at high full power. Dmitry, already not pleased that the fan was not turned on in the first place had another sarcastic response to the sudden high blast of air.

“Well, I wanted it turned on, but not that much.”

It is in these exact moments that we ball boys have to bite our tongues the hardest. Dmitry does not appreciate the fact that we run him his towel and feed him the tennis balls he so desperately needs to serve and start play. The relationship may be one way in terms of verbal communication, but we allow Dmitry to have a smoothly run tennis match. The fine line between business and personal vendetta’s is very thin. As a player takes a tone with someone who is a fan of the game and loves ball boying, it becomes rather arduous to hold back from saying something or simply releasing a ball in the middle of a point in play. We have to stay professional on court, and not retaliate against players who may mistreat us. The beauty of standing still as a ball boy is you may not be moving, but by grasping these fuzzy yellow spheres and holding them behind our backs, we hold all the power of any tennis match.

Mistreating us ball boys is not just specific to the men’s tennis matches. Yes, even the women have their moments of abuse toward the ones making their match play run smoothly and efficiently.

As training methods for tennis coaches and strength training coaches improve, younger teenagers begin to get their chance to play at the professional level at an earlier age than years before. The younger the player, the more likely they are to have temper tantrums and act immaturely on the tennis court. As professionals gain age and experience, they appreciate the opportunity to play their favorite sport in front of large audiences and crowds while traveling around the world. Experience is the best teacher. As players gain match experience they learn to act professionally when on the tennis court.

Last year at the Citi Open there was one young woman from Kazakhstan. She was a fierce and fiery competitor and relatively new to the professional tour as she was just nineteen years of age. Her real name is Yulia Putintseva, but all of us ball boys knew her by the name “The Devil”. All week our ball boy advisors had warned us to be weary if assigned to work her court. We would need to remain focused and attentive to all of “The Devil’s” unique demands. I was ready for the challenge as last year was my sixth year as a ball boy and I had an abundance of experience on the court to prepare me for her.

“The Devil” was in a tight second round battle with American and crowd favorite Christina McHale. The crowd was electric, with fans seemingly right on top of the action as this match was being played on the tight quarters of court Grandstand 1. As a ball boy, the next greatest feeling to actually playing a tennis match yourself is being on the court with these professional athletes. As ball boys, we cherish the opportunity to work the primetime match with an electric crowd. “The Devil” as us ball boys began to remember her drew a crowd to her matches as people flocked to witness the hatred and nasty attitude for themselves.

As my team took the court Yulia “The Devil” Putintseva was trailing American McHale in a third set. Her disappointment in herself for trailing the match currently transferred from frustration with herself to taking this anger out on innocent bystanders, such as us ball boys. “The Devil” motioned for a ball to be tossed to her to serve. After I tossed her the ball, she proceeded to hit the ball back in the corner away from everyone around. I stood still, motionless, and dumbfounded by the irony of “The Devil” motioning for a ball, and then instead of politely taking it to serve, hitting it back in the corner of the court. I thought to myself, maybe she will want another ball from my hands. Instead, the unthinkable.

“Get me that ball, I want that one,” Putintseva stated with a firmness in her voice that was also conveyed by her waving her finger toward the direction of the ball now in the corner.

I was made to go fetch the ball I had just tossed to her which was now in the corner. It is in these moments when it is the most difficult to maintain professionalism. I just tossed her a ball, just to have it hit right back toward my direction then instructed to go retrieve it. This is when the crowd, regardless of who they are rooting for seem to take the sides of us ball boys. Causal onlookers do not understand the importance of the ball boy position. Actually, if not for being mistreated by players such as “The Devil” and Dmitry, we would relatively go unnoticed. The beauty of standing still is we go unnoticed by most of the audience, but hold all the power in our hands, literally.

Every year, the week of the Citi Open tennis tournament is one of my most memorable weeks of the entire summer. Every kid dreams of becoming a professional athlete when they are young. Unfortunately, in reality very seldom do these dreams become a reality. Ball boying allows people like me with those dreams, but not the skill and talent required to play at the professional level, to take the court each day for that week and witness the beauty of the sport. The beauty of standing still is I get to be close to the professionals and hear that unique smacking sound the ball makes off their strings, smell the fuzz of the tennis balls as the umpire cracks a new can, and hear the incessant squeaking of their shoes on the concrete as they take those tiny adjustments steps to better their position to hit a near perfect ball. The beauty and essence of standing still on the court behind the players I admire most is these athletes are millionaires, but I hold all the power in my hands behind my back while on their court by clutching the yellow spheres they need the most.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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