By Marc Raimondi
Arthur Ashe Stadium is the pinnacle for every tennis player in the US Open. Playing there means one thing: you’ve made it — you’re one of the best in the world. That is where all eyes are on you.
The same goes for a ball person. Arthur Ashe is it. It’s the place where every ball person — whether they work the net or the back — wants to be. Anyone can do their thing on the outside courts or at Louis Armstrong or the Grandstand. None of those places are like Ashe, where the most famous players and the biggest crowds converge.
Jonathan Kramer is one of the lucky ones. Last year, his first as a US Open ball person, the Forest Hills native worked the match between Andy Roddick and Roger Federer.
“I was surprised I got it,” said Kramer, 18. “Honestly, I have no idea why I did.”
As necessary as ball people are to the Open, few really notice the hard work and long hours they put in. Most people only notice players like Roddick and Federer and not the six or so ball people feeding them new balls or handing them towels during change-overs.
Alex Derienzo, a 16-year-old from Douglaston, says that’s the whole point.
“Our whole object is to be behind the scenes,” the St. Francis Prep senior said.
Derienzo is in his third year as a ball boy and still hasn’t gotten the call to work inside the Ashe. His only experience with the big court is two years ago when he and some other ball people were able to catch up close one of Andre Agassi’s final matches — a nearly four-hour marathon against Marco Baghdatis.
“I would definitely love to get on Ashe sooner or later,” Derienzo said.
More than 200 ball people usually return a following year to help fill around 270 spots. The annual tryouts draw more than 300 kids and young adults from around the area. Starting salary for rookies is $7.75 per hour. That goes up for veterans and is based on merit. Kramer says he makes $9 an hour.
There are different skills for the two different positions: net and back. People who work the net are usually smaller and quicker. As soon as the ball hits the twine, they need to sprint, grab it and make it to the other side as quickly as possible. The back position requires the ability to throw the ball the length of the court and includes handing players towels.
The throwing skill suits Kramer just fine. He was the starting shortstop on the Forest Hills HS baseball team this past year and will play the same position at Nassau CC in the spring.
Hikari Miyazawa worked the net position in 2006 and 2007 before taking this year’s tournament off to focus on playing volleyball for Francis Lewis HS.
What she doesn’t miss is the hot days and having to stay completely still during rallies. One flinch or movement could distract the players and supervisors are constantly evaluating ball people.
“Everyone thinks it’s an easy job, but it’s harder than it looks,” said Miyazawa, a 16-year-old Bayside native, who is also the captain of the Francis Lewis girls’ tennis team.
Added 16-year-old Forest Hills native Joe Laskowski: “Standing in one spot, you get tired and sore, your leg might fall asleep.”
For teens who play tennis there is perhaps no better experience — aside from actually competing at Flushing Meadows — than being a ball person. St. Francis Prep boys’ and girls’ tennis coach John Brennan, who has six of his boys working as ball people, including Laskowski and Derienzo, thinks brushes with greatness can only positively affect their games.
“There are studies that say just that,” Brennan said.
One player Kramer probably won’t want to run into again is David Ferrer, the No. 4 seed in this year’s tournament. Last week, while working one of Ferrer’s matches, Kramer threw the tennis pro a ball on a hop. It missed the player’s hands and landed squarely in his groin area. Ferrer batted the ball into the fence angrily and asked for a new one.
Kramer was mortified.
“Thank God,” he said, “no one saw.”
