Diary of a ball girl at the ATP Tour Finals

Posted on 02nd Dec 2015

 

One of our talented Talbot Heath and West Hants Academy players, Erin, has been selected to be a ball girl at the ATP Tour Finals which started at the weekend.  Erin is sending us daily reports about this very exciting experience - scroll down to read all about it or if you'd like to hear her interview on BBC Radio Solent click here!

 

 

 

 

Day 1

Today, we arrived at the hotel after a 3 hour journey to London. It was great to see everyone again and we are all really excited for tomorrow. On arriving at The O2 we were taken into our own tent dedicated just to us.  After receiving a quick introduction it was time for us to try on our kit, definitely a much harder task then I imagined!  After at least an hour of trying to find the right size we were all finally kitted out for the week. Just as we were getting ready, we saw one of the Bryan brothers having a quick talk with his coach, probably about his first match tomorrow. Next up was going onto the main court itself which was incredible as I underestimated just how big it really is. Although we won't get to work on court as a team until the first matches tomorrow, we did get to practice our run-ons onto court. Later on we headed back to the hotel and got ready for bed before our first appearances tomorrow.

 

Day 2

Today is the day we will have our first appearance on court with the pros!  However before we got to go onto the main stage we were needed on the practice courts alongside some young fans, it was great to be able to help them out and make their experience at The O2 even more unforgettable. During the day I saw several players practicing such as, Roger Federer, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych, and soon it was finally time for my team to take to the court. We were changing ball kids Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori's match. As we waited in the tunnel, it was clear that everyone was extremely nervous but once we took our first step onto the court we were all professional and ready.  We were on court for about an hour, during which I had to get Novak some water and sort out his rackets - it was amazing!  Djokovic won with a resounding 6-1 6-1 scoreline and we then headed off court feeling buzzing and amazed.

 

Later on in the evening my team was on again, this time for the Bryan brothers and Bopanna/Mergea. However this time we started the match so we were given a team introduction and were greeted with a large clap and cheer from the crowd. After another half an hour on court we were finished for the evening with another team taking our place on court.

 

Overall it was definitely a great way to start an incredible week.

 

Day 3

After the success of my first day on court, I was extremely excited for today. Especially since I knew the line-up consisted of, my favourite player, Rafa, as well as Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray, David Ferrer and a great set of doubles pairs.

 

I wasn't needed on court until midway through the doubles match between Rojer/Tecau and Zimonjic/Matkowski. After Rojer and Tecau won the first set relatively convincingly, it was time for me to take to the court. I was definitely feeling more relaxed and confident about coming on to court, especially since I had already been in this situation twice before. The rest of the match sped by and after a few tense moment and some great shots from both pairs, the match his was over with Tecau and Rojer taking the second set 6-4. Afterwards I had lunch and a quick chat with my team before going back into the arena, but this time just to watch Murray and Ferrer battle it out for their first win of the tournament. It was clear that Murray was the favourite to win from, the crowd's reaction, however Ferrer put up a strong fight eventually losing in straight sets. Once the match was over I rushed back but luckily caught Andy on my way out, therefore him giving me my first signature from the tournament so far.

 

After a couple hours off I was ready to get back on court for the evening session which consisted of Dodig/Melo taking on Herbert/Mahut. It was definitely the closest match so far with the French team having had two match points although going down in three sets.

 

Once off court I checked if I was on again before realising that I would be taking to court alongside Rafa and Stan. I already knew this was going to be one of the highlights of my week. As my team stepped,on court, the crowd roared in appreciation. Although we had to try and ignore them as much as possible in order to focus on the match that was about to start. As the loud speaker started calling both players to court, the crowd all screamed out, it was incredible. As both players walked past me, I could feel my hands shaking, I was very nervous to say the least. However I tried my best to block out these thoughts as they were only going to distract me. Before the match started, Stan asked me to get him some water and unwrap his racket, I hope he didn't notice my trembling fingers. Eventually both players were ready and it was time for play to start, the crowd let out one last huge roar for both players before all fell silent as the first serve was hit. The next forty minutes flew by and before I knew it I was walking off court with large smile spread across my face. I was overwhelmed with the whole experience and was in disbelief about what had just happened. Finally I managed to calm down as the team headed back to the hotel.

 

 

Day 4

Today I was only on for the singles, which was really good because both were great matches. We had our first late start today, which was much appreciated. But then later set off for the O2. I was first on court for the start of Berduch vs. Nishikori, the match was a great contest and because I was at the net I was able to see just how small their margin for error is and how low they hit the ball over the net. Both players were playing really well, and after only a few games the umpire asked me to get a towel and clean up sweat from the ground, that had been dripping off Berdych’s forehead. Although at first I was slightly confused, I managed to wipe all the sweat off the ground, which earned me a clap from the crowd and a few seconds of TV time. After the match I went back to our den where I enjoyed an amazing lunch of lasagna, whilst watching some other ball kids take part in an intense game of Mario Kart. Later on in the evening, I was back on for, what was definitely the biggest match of the tournament so far, as Roger Federer took on Novak Djokovic in a repeat of what would have been last year’s final. The atmosphere was incredible and the crowd were so loud, I could barely hear the umpire speak. After each point people would be cheering for their favorite player and throughout the match, the noise level just continued to increase. When Roger went on to win the match, the Swiss fans erupted in applause. Afterwards I dashed off to see if I could try and get my ball signed by him, which I not only did, but the camera got a picture of him signing it, showing me with a large smile spread across my face.

 

Day 5

Today we got to the O2 around 10pm and immediately went to the practice courts as we had been told that Jamie Murray and John Peers were doing a serving competition with FedEx. As we watched them serve, I was surprised to see Jamie Murray having some trouble hitting the target as he kept just missing the ball wide or long, but eventually knocking it down after several attempts. Once they came off court, I alongside my friend, Steph, asked if we could get a picture with each of them, which they were more than happy to do.

Later on, I was back on court, this time for Andy Murray as he played Rafa Nadal, which was already a highly anticipated match. Although Andy is British and so I therefore expected him to be the favorite for the match, it looked like there were much more people supporting Rafa rather than Andy, as Rafa was receiving much louder cheers. However this could have been partly due to the fact that Andy had been getting extremely frustrated and I heard him on several occasions during change of ends swearing and looking at his player’s box rather unhappily. When Rafa won, I was very happy as Rafa is my favorite player and Andy just seems like a very angry person, who hadn’t been very nice to the ball kids either, by apparently shouting at a couple and being rude. After the match Murray stormed off court, definitely not looking in the mood to sign any autographs. Between then and the evening session, we had a bit of time off, during which, Pat Cash, came to talk to us and a couple people interviewed him. He was really nice and told us about how he was a ball kid back in Australia, so he knew what it was like. Once he had left it was time to go back on court for the evening session, doubles. The arena definitely wasn’t as filled as it had been earlier in the day, and so I wasn’t feeling as nervous for the match, especially since I knew that the two teams we were on for (Rojer/Tecau and Dodig/Melo) were both really nice in the last match they each played. At the start of the match I had to get Tecau some water but apart from that they did everything themselves and so I just had to make sure everything went well during the games. Luckily, it did, and it turned out to be the team’s best performance so far.

 

Day 6

Today started off with an early start, as I was taking part in an interview on Radio Solent about my experience so far. At first I felt quite nervous about doing the interview because I hadn’t ever done anything like it before, although once the interviewer started asking me questions, I felt much more at ease and I felt quite confident about answering all the questions. Once the interview was over I got ready and headed off to the O2 for another day. Once we arrived I went to the fan zone, with a few other ball kids, where we each had a go at the serving challenge and watched Tomas Berdych having a quick hit on the practice courts, before we headed back to the den to prepare for the  first matches of the day. I was first on for the doubles, which was my first time on court with Bolelli/Fognini. I knew that Fognini was quite an interesting character, who got wound up very easily but I was surprised as to how angry he was getting, especially when he seemed to have an argument with the umpire in Italian, during one of the games. At the end of another game he decided to pull down the umpire’s sock as he walked past the umpire’s chair, which was very unusual as it seemed a very unnecessary and strange thing to do. After that match I had a few hours off where I relaxed and then watched a bit of the doubles between The Bryan brother and Murray/Peers which was incredibly close with a score line of, ‘6-7(5) 7-6(5) 16-14 in the Bryan’s favor. After this I was on for the singles match between Djokovic and Berdych, where Djokovic produced some great shots to dismiss the Czech, in straight sets although, the crowd were still very supportive of Berdych and continued to cheer right up until the last point. Once the match was over, it was time to leave, although just as we were in the minibus about to set off, one of the ball kids, Christian, noticed that Bob Bryan was outside eating pizza. We decided to open the door and start chanting, ‘we love you Bob we do’ because of his and Mike’s great victory today. Eventually after several minutes of chanting, he ran over and climbed onto our bus. He started high-fiving and talking to us, before getting a couple of pictures and then heading back to his food. It was definitely the best end to a day so far this week.

 

Day 7

Today was the last day of the group stages and so there were a few big matches to be played. However there were also a couple of matches which wouldn’t affect the overall result of the group, such as the first doubles session, where one pair was already through to the semis and one was already out. Nevertheless I was still excited to take to the court, as it is still extremely fun every time I am on. During the first doubles, one of the television’s was turned on extremely loud in one of the hospitality boxes and so the players could hear all the commentary and hear that match, whilst they were playing, therefore having to continuously stop as it was distracting. Although it was slightly annoying, it was also quite entertaining, as people from the crowd started shouting for it to be turned off and the umpire didn’t seem to know what to do. Finally after about 20 minutes, the tv was turned off, and the crowd clapped in appreciation, whilst the players still seemed irritated. Because of this disruption, it meant that I wasn’t really on for many games, as the players kept having to stop because of the noise. Once the match was over, it was time for Rafa vs. Ferrer. Although I wasn’t on court for this match, I was able to go and watch which can be just as fun as we get some of the best seats there. After Rafa won, he came backstage and as we all congratulated him, he came over and spoke to us, looking extremely happy, which we were grateful for as most would just give a few autographs and then leave. Between the two sessions, I along with five other ball kids, were asked to go to one of the practice courts, as we needed to get a photo with somebody there. At first we all thought we were just getting a picture with a young fan or winner of a competition, however when we got there we were in fact met by Alexander Zverev, who was receiving the award for 'ATP Star of Tomorrow', we were asked to pretend he was taking a selfie with us whilst a set of cameras took pictures of the moment taking place. It was very fun as Zverev was really nice and was clearly extremely excited about receiving his award. Later on once we had got back, my team got ready as we were once more doing the run-on for the doubles match in the evening. However, we didn't have much time to prepare, as the broadcasters had apparently requested that the match was brought forward by 15mins, therefore meaning we would have to be ready early.

As we got set to go on court, we noticed that the main Centre court hadn't actually been opened to the public yet, so we were therefore going to run-on to literally nobody. This was definitely weird as we had gone to a stadium filled with fans, all giving us a clap as we went on court, to only having a couple of our team and some of the backstage, production team cheering us on. Although, we all saw the funny side of it and, were feeling a lot more relaxed for the match. Not only did we run-on to an empty crowd, but there was also an error when they were introducing the players, with getting Mahut/Herbert confused with Rojer/Tecau!

 

Day 8

Today was the penultimate day, as well as being the day when, all our family and friends would be coming to watch, with my coach (Avi), dad, auntie and cousin all being sat in the crowd for the afternoon session. Because it was going into semi-finals day, the order in which we went on court was drawn with lots, with my team being drawn second, therefore being on for the second half of the doubles, between Bopanna/Mergea and Dodig/Melo. Once I was in my position on court, I noticed how Marcelo Melo, who is already about 6 ft 7in tall, was sitting on five white towels, which made him tower even more over his partner Ivan Dodig. This wasn't the only odd thing I noticed players doing throughout the week, another being how Florin Mergea would always, take a ball from a ball kid before he had even unpacked his equipment before a match. I also was able to see my dad and Avi, in the crowd, with Avi standing out due to his unique hairstyle and constant standing up to take pictures. Anyway, the doubles match ended up being won so quickly by Bopanna/Mergea that it meant that I would be on for the start of the semi-final between Rafa and Novak, which was sure to be a hugely anticipated match. And it certainly lived to expectation with the stadium completely crammed fill with fans and many flags which were waving about in support. As the players walked on I noticed how serious each looked, clearly very focused. Sadly, though we were only on for three games as we had already been on today, so weren't on for long. A couple hours later, all the ball kids got together to do a performance of The Hakka in memory of Jonah Lomu before we went on for the last time today, which was for the evening doubles which Rojer/Tecau beat The Bryan's comfortably, which was quite disappointing, as I had hoped, the match would be closer. Nevertheless, it meant that I would be able to watch the singles match between the two Roger and Stan, which involved some great tennis to finish the evening off with.

 

Day 9

Today was the last day of the tournament and I was definitely feeling sad that it was almost over; however I was hugely excited for both matches today, especially the rematch between Roger and Novak as it had been such a great match earlier in the week. However before any matches started, we all headed off to have a quick ride on the emirates cable car, that took us over the River Thames. It was great fun and was a really fun activity to do on the last day. Once we were back at the O2, we once more drew lots for the order in which the teams went on. Our team got drawn first, so we would be on for the start of the doubles final. We knew I could possibly be our last time on court and therefore we were all extremely determined to make it perfect. The crowd all cheered as we ran on and we were quickly in position, ready for the players to walk on. Because it was the last day, my team was only on for a shorter 35 minute slot, which made our time on court feel like it was over even quicker. After we came off court we all felt extremely proud of ourselves. Although we knew that if the rest of the doubles match and the singles match were long then there was a chance that we would get to go back on court for the end of the singles. Luckily our prayers were answered as later on in the evening we took one more step onto court for Roger and Novak, as Novak was 6-3 4-3 up. As we walked, the noise of the crowd was overwhelming and this obviously had a hugely positive effect on Djokovic who was playing some superb tennis, therefore eventually breaking Roger’s serve in the last game of the match, in order to claim the title.

Because we were the last team on court at the end of the match, it meant that we would be on court for the trophy presentation, which was amazing as it made us really feel like we were part of the celebration, and when the confetti and sparks flew up, it was just a truly unique and inspiring moment. Novak then got all the ball kids to come and take a group picture with him and the trophy, which later made it onto the home page for the tournament. Afterwards Novak came backstage and we all had a group hug with him, which was definitely a special feeling, as everyone was so happy. Overall it was a great way to end an unforgettably brilliant experience, that gained my lots of new friends, new skills and has inspired me to continue working hard to follow in similar footsteps.

 

 

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