Above right: Jacob Rowe in action as a ballkid at the Australian Open.By Glen Atwell
WHEN you’re next watching the Australian Open and hear the chair-umpire announce ‘new balls please’, spare a thought for Cranbourne tennis ace Jacob Rowe.
Jacob, 14, has taken pride of place on centre court alongside the best players in the world as a ballkid, and loves every minute.
He joins fellow Casey Fields Tennis Club juniors Ellen West and Ben Hendrickson, and Markus Kreher from Cranbourne South, who were all selected from more than 300 applicants from around Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.
The rigorous selection process involved two training sessions, the first focused on hand-eye co-ordination and the second on fitness.
After successfully navigating the first round of trials, Jacob, Ellen, Ben and Markus attended practice sessions in November and December, where they were tested for ball skills and their attitudes towards the role.
During the 14-day Australian Open, the ballkids have only one day off and Jacob said his body was feeling the pinch after the first two.
“I was a bit sore after the first few days, but after that I was fine,” he said.
“We are on the court for 45 minutes, then have 45 minutes off, then back on, so it’s pretty full on.”
Jacob was thrilled to work alongside some of today’s tennis superstars.
“I was a ballkid for Maria Sharapova and Justine Henin.
“It was exciting to be so close to the action, and Sharapova doesn’t really grunt that loudly,” Jacob said.
When he is on court, Jacob is a picture of concentration, and has many tasks to juggle.
“I’m pretty tall, so I am at the baseline,” he said.
“I bounce the balls to the server, grab the player’s towels and make everyone else’s job a little bit easier.”
Luckily, Jacob was not involved in Lleyton Hewitt’s epic Saturday night victory against Marcos Baghdatis, which lasted until the early hours of Sunday morning.
“The game went to about 4.30am, so Jacob would have probably missed breakfast,” his mother Rachel joked.
“He is really enjoying his time on the court, and the family gets free tickets to the tennis, so it’s great,” she said.
Jacob now has his sights set on being selected to ballkid the finals of the Australian Open, but will have to wait and see.
“We are assessed every day against a list of criteria, so I won’t find out until just before the finals start,” he said.
