се дължала зле с головин след нейното контузване на полуфинала, т.е. че не й съчувствала достатъчно - тука има един разказ на очевидец. той се отнася за целия турнир, много е интересен, и се чудех къде да го постна без да почвам нова тема.....болднала съм пасажа за шарапова

Hello all,

I was a ballboy at the Nasdaq-100 Open for the sixth straight year. Recently, I wrote a two-part article about my experience for my school's newspaper, The Beacon. I've included it below.

Confessions of a Ballboy

By Joshua Rey

Staff Writer

I went to Key Biscayne for my Spring Break. It’s a six-year tradition.

For two weeks and no pay, I ran myself ragged in the South Florida sun, putting in nearly 100 hours of work.

Driving back through University Park last Monday, all I had to show for myself was a worn-out Fila uniform and five classes worth of unfinished homework.

But I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I was a ballboy for the Nasdaq-100 Open tennis tournament.

To the audience our task looks simple: Six volunteers spread out along the backdrops and at the net trying to keep six tennis balls off the court and on the serving player’s side.

On the surface, the job is much more complex. Sharing a tennis court with the top professionals in the world can get interesting, even in the tournament’s early stages.

Monday, March 20th marked the beginning of the two-day qualifying competition in which low-ranked players seek entry into the main draw and ballpeople get acquainted with being unappreciated.

2004 Olympic silver medalist Mardy Fish took on fast-rising Frenchman Julien Benneteau in a much-anticipated match. After being broken to lose the first set, Benneteau took a tennis ball from his pocket and blasted it with all his might. The ball ricocheted off the umpire’s chair, leaving a large neon-green mark and scaring the daylights out of Alejandro, a fellow ballboy who was positioned next to the chair.

For nearly impaling Alejandro, Benneteau received only a warning. Go figure. Ballpeople are supposed to be impartial, but we were pretty happy when Fish won 7-5, 6-3.

Tennis history was made two days later, when the Hawk-Eye challenge system debuted on Stadium Court. I was at the backdrop when American Jamea Jackson began the second set of her match against Ashley Harkleroad with the first challenge ever.

Jackson was wrong and fading fast. After receiving a medical timeout in the third set, she nearly served to the wrong side of the court. Facing match point at 2-5, Jackson miraculously won five straight games, ushering in the 2006 Nasdaq with a 7-5, 6-7(3), 7-5 win in three hours and eight minutes.

On March 23rd I had my hands full on Court 2, literally. About to begin the warm-up for her first round match, Karolina Sprem asked me to grab something from her coach. I ran across the court to receive six bottles of water, nutrients and smelling salts.

As I waddled my way back, Sprem smiled and offered to help me. Just sharing a laugh with a 21-year old Croatian beauty can make a ballboy’s day. It’s too bad she lost.

Friday the 24th brought out the big stars and the big crowds. With fans buzzing, 2005 finalist Rafael Nadal and 2003 finalist Carlos Moya took to the court. Longtime amigos from Spain, Nadal and Moya were unlucky to draw each other in the second round.

Moya stunned the No. 2 seed with a dazzling array of whipping forehands and deceptive drop shots. Watching from the net, I couldn’t believe my eyes as Moya crafted a top-spin backhand lob over Nadal’s head to win the match.

The surprises kept coming on Saturday the 25th. Tim Henman entered his match against No. 13 seed Lleyton Hewitt with an 0-8 record against the Australian. A veteran serve-and-volleyer, Henman changed tactics by punishing groundstrokes from the baseline to set up his approaches to the net. The strategy worked as Henman finally beat Hewitt 7-6(5), 6-3.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters seemed assured of restoring order when she got up 3-0 on American Jill Craybas in five minutes. But Craybas kept fighting and drew 78 unforced errors from Clijsters to earn the upset. Clijsters joined her fellow Belgian, No. 3 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne, on the early departures list.

World No. 1 Roger Federer also looked destined for an easy victory. I entered the court for my ballboy shift after Federer won his first set against Arnaud Clement, 6-2.

With the second set on serve at 5-5, Federer hit a first serve fault. I sprinted to pick up the ball and return to my position at the net. But I came up empty-handed – missing the ball completely – and had to screech my Filas to a halt, turn around, and reclaim the ball while the crowd laughed.

Despite my slipup, Federer held for 6-5. In Clement’s next service game, Federer asked for a ball from another ballboy. It looked like he was going to hit it to the other side, but instead he quickly slapped it directly at my feet. Somehow I managed to catch it on a short hop and roll it to a ballboy on Clement’s end. I’m still wondering if Federer was testing me.

Clement won the final seven points of the second set tiebreaker to even the match. But Federer proved too strong in the third set, winning it 6-0. He wouldn’t lose another set the entire tournament.


Wearing my orange-and-blue Fila outfit for the sixth time in seven days, I was extremely tired on Sunday, March 26th. But when Stadium Court comes calling, a NASDAQ-100 Open ballboy would be crazy to sleep in.

Sensational Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis stormed through the first set of his match against No. 5 seed Nikolay Davydenko, hitting the fastest forehands I’ve ever seen.

But Davydenko was unfazed and stepped up his game. When Baghdatis hit a drop shot, Davydenko responded with one of his own. At full speed, Baghdatis was unable to retrieve the ball and barely missed a head-on collision with me at the net. As Baghdatis raced towards me, he had a big grin on his face and looked into my eyes as if to say, “That shot was too good.”

Fans groaned when Baghdatis double faulted three times in the final game to concede the match 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. But something tells me they’ll be back when Marcos makes his return in 2007.

I had Tuesday, March 28th off and spent the day watching tennis. I’m glad I was in the front row, and not on the court, for the Nicolas Kiefer/Agustin Calleri match.

Widely recognized among ballpeople as the biggest prick in tennis, Kiefer approached a rookie ballboy for his towel in the second set. He then stuck his racket out as a sign for the ballboy to place a ball on the strings. But the ballboy didn’t know what Kiefer wanted and grabbed the racket with his left hand.

“Are you f---ing kidding me?” Kiefer said, staring deep into the ballboy’s eyes. Kiefer’s coach Sascha Nensel was laughing hysterically but Calleri got the last laugh, knocking Kiefer out of Key Biscayne.

Leading off the night session on Thursday, March 30th was a quarterfinal showdown between Roger Federer and James Blake. This was a much-anticipated match, not just because both players are exciting but also because they are gentlemen.

Federer always says “Please” and “Thank you” when asking for water and Blake thanks ballboys each time they toss him a ball. That’s a welcome change from the response we get from players like Kiefer.

Up a set and 2-0, Federer hit a shot that’s still replaying in my head.

Working at the net, I saw Blake leap high in the air for an overhead smash. He absolutely crushed the ball, but with the grace of a dancer, Federer transferred his weight from his right foot to his left foot and blocked the ball with a backhand past a shocked Blake.

I quickly glanced at every other ballboy on the court. All our jaws had dropped. Roger Federer is just plain sick.

Needless to say, he went on for the 7-6(2), 6-4 win. But the night’s excitement had only begun.

Maria Sharapova was beating Tatiana Golovin 6-3, 4-1 in a semifinal between 18-year olds, with Golovin due to serve. But the Frenchwoman came out of the changeover ready to return, bouncing at the baseline with her back to the ballboys. The chair umpire had to point her finger for Golovin to realize she was serving. Golovin lost the game and looked destined for defeat.

Sharapova had four match points at 5-3, but Golovin outlasted the Russian in a series of furious rallies and broke her serve.

Then Sharapova took a bathroom break to the loud jeers of the crowd. I couldn’t believe my ears. A stadium full of drunk and rowdy young men had turned on their beloved Sharapova, rallying behind the equally gorgeous Golovin.

Golovin won a second set tiebreaker and had a break point at 3-4 in the deciding set when the unthinkable happened. After clawing her way back from the brink of defeat, Golovin rolled her left ankle while lunging for a forehand.

She writhed in pain for seven minutes on the court before bravely resuming play. But with tears dripping down her eyes, Golovin hobbled toward the net after one forehand return. She’d won the hearts of thousands of fans – and at least one ballboy – but conceded the match when she shook Sharapova’s hand.

I carried Golovin’s racket bag to the locker room, leading the way for her and Sharapova off of the court. With ESPN2 cameras capturing our exit, commentators Cliff Drysdale and Mary Joe Fernandez criticized Sharapova for not checking on Golovin’s condition.

But no cameras were rolling in the hallway when I saw Sharapova grab hold of Golovin’s left arm and guide her to the locker room. Showing no hard feelings, Golovin laughed through her tears and said, “Thanks Maria.”


I worked the men’s final between Federer and Ivan Ljubicic, and what a final it was. Ljubicic outaced Federer 21 to eight and hit 44 winners to Federer’s 36, good enough to force three tiebreakers against the World No. 1.

Tiebreakers can sometimes be chaotic for ballboys, with balls quickly moving from one side of the court to the other. Though I was hard at work, it was clear to see Federer’s greatness shine through when it mattered most.

At 3-3 in the first set tiebreaker, Federer yelled “WOO!” when he mishit a backhand well long. Then he won four of the next five points, finishing the first set with an ace.

Federer quickly trailed Ljubicic 4-1 in the second set tiebreaker, but behind the strength of his ferocious forehand he won the final six points to take a two-set lead.

Finally, Ljubicic earned a set point at 6-5 in the third set tiebreaker. Federer quickly erased that with two monster first serves to reach championship point.

Looking on from the net, I thought Ljubicic hit a great serve out wide as Federer stretched for the backhand return. The ball didn’t look like it would clear the net, but it nipped the top of the tape and dribbled onto Ljubicic’s side.

Federer won his second straight NASDAQ-100 Open title on a let cord, earning $533,350 along the way. That’s $533,350 more than the 400 ballpeople made combined. But you won't hear us complain.

A tournament record 272,033 fans paid to attend the 2006 NASDAQ, but we weren’t among them. We shared the court with the greatest athletes in the world and we didn’t pay a dime to do it.

Now that’s priceless.

та, така де - нещата не винаги са такива, каквито изглеждат на тв.

We all go home...