The Ball Boy Diaries
The final day of The Ojai offered up sunshine and exciting competition. After 3 days of morning fog and afternoon clouds, Sunday warmed up to be a beautiful “Chamber of Commerce” day. The smell of sweat and sunscreen commingled with tri-tip, Harley exhaust and orange blossoms created an air of unmistakable Ojai.
There were other nuances worth mentioning, too. For example, I knew my readers would want to know about the head gear: hat or visor. It seems that while the visors were quite popular, baseball style caps were more prevalent. Like the one sported by top seed, 18-year-old Sam Querrey of Thousand Oaks (pictured). He played in the Men’s Open final against 29-year-old Zbynek Mlynarik of Chatsworth. Youth and a power serve, though, proved to be no match for the speed and savvy of the veteran.
With all the decorum of a Sunday of tennis whites, there was a surprising lack of it at times on the courts. And I’m not talking about the outfits. No, that was not a B-movie actress letting out a blood-curdling scream; that was Cal’s doubles partner, missing the point. Racquets were flung, disappointments voiced and chairs were kicked. But in the end, winners were proclaimed, trophies were given and smiles, hugs and handshakes took center court.
And then there was the big get. Not even the L.A. Times reporter could get close to this one. Yours truly had a sit-down with one of the unsung heroes of tennis: the ball boy.
You know him, he’s the one crouched down under the net, waiting patiently to retrieve loose balls and holding sweaty towels for the players. After a match that went to all 3 sets, I got a face-to face with local Sean O’Brien, and he looked tired. He chased down errant balls and got tagged by 100-mile-an-hour serves. Between sets, he juggled tennis balls. And got an admonishment from the judge. Why?
“I bounced the ball,” he confessed. I guess it’s hard to maintain focus after hours in the hot sun.
And the question of the hour…how does one get chosen to serve with the ball boy elite?
“I got assigned,” replied the teen. It seems that his holding court on the Thacher tennis team brings an automatic appointment to the task.
Look for Sean next year at The Ojai, but not huddled in the corner of the court; Sean will be competing in the Boy’s 16 and Under category. Good luck Sean!
And so it is, after 4 days of grueling interviews and painstaking research here, here, here and here, Ojai Post’s coverage of the 106th Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament must now come to a close. See you on the courts in ’07!
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Comments (2)
Lisa - that was an awesome series of posts. Glad to see you had fun - I had fun right along with you. Maybe next year I'll wander into the tea tent and order a half-caff double venti latte for myself.
Comment #1 Posted by: Tyler | May 1, 2006 02:22 PM
Game on!
Comment #2 Posted by: Lisa Snider | May 1, 2006 04:09 PM