28 February 2017 | Tennis West

With applications now open for a spot in next years coveted Woolworths Ballkids squad, find out firsthand what it is like to be on court with some of the world’s best tennis players….

Jessica Basilio was a Mastercard Hopman Cup Ballkid, and this year also made the Australian Open Ballkid Squad, where she was picked to Ballkid for the Men’s Final! Here is Jessica’s story…

My Hopman Cup and Australian Open Experience  – By Jessica Basilio         24/02/2017

After several trial sessions at the State Tennis Centre, I was ecstatic to find out that I was chosen to be a ballkid at the Hopman Cup. The Hopman Cup gave me so many opportunities to be on court with some of the world’s best tennis players that I grew up watching on TV such as Andy Murray, Serena Williams, Milos Raonic, Daria Gavrilova and Alexander Zverev just to name a few, and of course, one of my personal favourites, Roger Federer. Growing up idolising Roger Federer, and having the privilege to ballkid for him here in Perth, and see his phenomenal talent up close, was something I will never forget. I was also privileged enough to be chosen to represent the ballkids by presenting the winners and runners up in the presentation of the Hopman Cup 2016.

After spending three years enjoying the on court experience and close up encounters with many great players at the Hopman Cup, I was chosen to be a ballkid at the Australian Open in Melbourne, as a part of the Visitor Program. This opportunity came with obvious excitement and anticipation to not only go to the Australian Open for the first time, but to be on court at a Grand Slam and witness the highest quality of tennis played.

The Australian Open Visitor Program, consisting of two ballkids from each state in Australia, 20 from Korea, 4 from China and 2 from France, created my family for the three weeks I stayed in Melbourne. As well as meeting these amazing people, including the chaperones who were our parents for the stay, I was able to meet and form friendships with many of the 350 Australian Open ballkids from Melbourne. The Visitor Program also allowed me to explore Melbourne City with the other visiting ballkids, as we saw many of Melbourne’s attractions under the guidance of the chaperones.

Being a ballkid for the Australian Open, saw me wake up early each day, head to Melbourne Park by tram, check my allocated court, and spend the day ballkidding for a variety of amazing players as well as getting to know the ballkids in my group. Being allocated a different court each day based on previous performance, gave me the opportunity to ballkid many matches from Juniors and Wheelchairs, to Men’s and Woman’s singles, on a variety of the 22 courts ranging from the furthest outside courts, to show courts including Hisense Arena, as well as the prestigious Rod Laver Arena. Melbourne Park soon became my second home and I enjoyed each day on court, the food from the Staff Cafe, and being surrounded by thousands of people who share the same love for tennis as I do.

Being on court at the Australian Open was a surreal experience for me and it was topped with being chosen in the final squad for junior boys finals and as a flag bearer. I was honoured with the opportunity to be present on Rod Laver Arena as a flag bearer during the men’s doubles finals, woman’s singles finals and men’s singles finals. Being present at such a prestigious and widely watched event as the Australian Open Grand Final, was unreal and something I will never forget.

My Hopman Cup and Australian Open experiences as a ballkid, improved my ballkid skills, allowed me to create unforgettable friendships, be left with life long memories and gave me the opportunity to be closer than I’d ever dreamed I would be, to the sport’s best players and legends.

To sign up to be Woolworths Ballkid visit: http://www.tennis.com.au/ballkids