Brooklyn high schoolers Patrycja Filonik and Julia Ivanov have a big job ahead of them over the next two weeks – they will be standing on the sidelines of the courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, serving as members of the highly competitive ball crew at the U.S. Open.
Ball crew members can be found on the periphery of the court, ready to spring into action if a ball strays or a player needs assistance. It is their job to keep the court in order and the match flowing, while having the best view in the house.
Both Filonik and Ivanov, from Bushwick and Sheepshead Bay, respectively, are a part of the scholar athlete program of New York Junior Tennis & Learning.
“They love tennis, and so they just want to make sure that they get to be around it, and being around the Open, being around athletes who play tennis professionally, it means a lot to them,” said Raiyan Nafee, the academic program director of the scholar athlete program. “For a lot of them, it's also about seeing people who look like them or talk like them, or who have similar experiences to them.”
Nafee said the goal of the program is to develop well-rounded athletes, prepared to succeed both on the court and in the classroom, with the ultimate aim of collegiate-level play.
The program currently has 86 players. They practice at the flagship center in the Bronx, but a new satellite site for Brooklyn participants is in the works at MatchPoint NYC Bensonhurst, according to a spokesperson.
In order to qualify for the program, participants must be from a low-income household, in good academic standing, meet attendance requirements and have participated in previous NYJTL programming. Most of all, they have to love tennis.
Ivanov and Filonik tick all of these boxes – they’re highly dedicated athletes, as well as model students.
Ivanov, now 15, started playing tennis when she was two. She applied and was accepted to be on the U.S. Open ball crew last summer. Vigilance and stamina are required for the job, she said.
“The job of the ball people is just to help out the player and keep the match going smoothly, you basically have to keep all the balls off the court and assist the players with anything that they need,” Ivanov said.
Ivanov said she feels both nervous and excited before the matches.
“You're basically on the big TV of a Grand Slam,” Ivanov said. “It's always a thrilling experience, you get to see actual professional players that have gone so far, who have been training for years for their moment, and you're there assisting them. It's just really amazing.”
Filonik, 17, is going on her third year as a part of the ball crew. She knows the drill – mandatory training for the crew in the weeks before the Open, memorizing formations and procedures, learning what to look out for on the court, and so on.
“It's honestly so crazy to be given an opportunity to be so close to these top players, and it's such an honor to provide for them and help them out,” said Filonik, who started playing tennis about ten years ago. “It's a crazy experience, but we also have to make sure we focus on the job, make sure we don't make any mistakes. But it's honestly amazing. I love it.”
If she decides to join the ball crew for a fourth time next year, it will be her last as she will head to college.
“I plan on playing college tennis, and then in the future, I would love to coach, or even become a pro, if that is possible for me,” she said.
