A number of young Queens tennis players are preparing to work as members of the US Open ball crew when the famous tennis tournament returns this Sunday.
Several Queens-based members of the non-profit New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL), the largest youth tennis non-profit in the US, have been selected as members of the US Open ball crew for the upcoming tournament, which runs from Aug. 24 until Sep. 7.
The non-profit, founded over 50 years ago by US tennis legend Arthur Ashe, currently serves more than 90,000 K-12 students across the five boroughs of New York City, bringing free programming to underserved communities across the city.
Of the 12 NYJTL members to have been selected as members of the US Open ball crew this year, five come from Queens. Udai Tambar, the non-profit’s executive director, said it is “fantastic” to see such strong Queens representation at the 2025 US Open, especially considering that the borough hosts the annual tennis event.
“It’s fantastic,” Tambar said. “First of all, for Queens to be the home of one of the Grand Slam tournaments – this is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world – and then to have our young people on the same court with these world-renowned athletes. It’s life-altering for them.”
Tambar believes that sharing the court with athletes such as Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff can inspire young NYJTL members to continue playing tennis with even greater enthusiasm.
He said it is especially important that Queens-based members of the non-profit are part of the ball crew, noting that the majority of participants in the organization’s grassroots programming come from Queens.
Tambar added that bringing tennis to underserved communities across the city is a key principle of the organization, stating that access to sports such as tennis can have a profound impact on a young person’s confidence.
“We firmly believe as an organization that talent is universal and opportunity is not,” Tambar said. “There’s tremendous talent in the borough of Queens, what’s often lacking is just the opportunity for that talent to shine.”
He added that part of NYJTL’s mission is to show children from underserved communities that they have the ability to pursue whatever they want to pursue.
“If you as a young person are told that tennis is a sport that’s not accessible to you, all of a sudden, we create that opportunity for you to access it. Now all of a sudden, you have confidence in yourself that you can do something that people told you you couldn’t do.”
Kento Smith, a Briarwood resident representing NYJTL and Beacon High School at the 2025 US Open, spoke of his excitement ahead of returning as a ball crew member after working at the tournament last year.
Smith said working with other members of the ball crew taught him “vital life skills,” such as learning to work with others and learning to deal with high-pressure situations.
He also spoke of the rush of seeing world-famous tennis players competing at the highest level.
“I’m very grateful that I was able to see tennis players that I admire over TV that close,” Smith said. “It was both nerve-racking and exciting at the same time.”
Smith, who joined the NYJTL several years ago at the organization’s Cary Leeds Center in the heart of the South Bronx, credited the non-profit for providing him with access to tennis.
“I’ve been able to build a great community,” Smith said.
Both Smith and Tambar expressed hopes that the 2025 US Open will inspire new tennis fans to pick up a racket and try their hand at the sport, regardless of their age. Tambar noted the health benefits of regularly playing tennis and said he was encouraged by a recent USTA report that noted an 8% rise in tennis activity across the US over the last year.
Smith, meanwhile, will be joined by a number of other Queens-based NYJTL members at the US Open over the next two weeks, including Townsend Harris High School student Morgan Ma, who has been a member of the NYJTL for five years through the organization’s Community Tennis Program.
Forest Hills resident Ryley Zhang, who is heading to Princeton in the fall, is also representing Queens at the Open in addition to ninth-grade Bayside student Jayden Wong and Francis Lewis High School student Amber Lai.
