Dianne Lee

If you love tennis like I do and are looking for a unique opportunity to go behind the scenes, try stepping out and volunteering at a pro tournament like the ATX Open, a WTA 250 event that takes place for the third year at the Westwood Country Club February 22-March 2, 2025.  It’s fun to see some of the players’ reactions when they recognize me as both their driver and their ball person! Next year will be my third year reprising both of these roles. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like work at all. It’s more like hanging out with friends and getting to watch professional tennis for free. Yet another benefit of being a volunteer– you can gain entry to the grounds before the public does and can watch the players practicing without having to elbow in for a good view. It’s really interesting to see what the players’ workout routines are like. One coach told me that they try to make the practices harder than the matches so that the matches will seem easier in comparison. Other benefits include free clothes, food, and tickets to the tournament for you and guests. 

The title of this piece is “Stepping Out” for two reasons. It’s a term used to describe the three steps a ball person takes towards a player before tossing them the ball. It also refers to me stepping out of my comfort zone. Ball personing is not for the faint of heart. You need to be in good physical condition because it requires a tremendous amount of stamina, a good deal of hand-eye coordination and accurate throwing skills. After my inaugural year at the ATX Open, I wanted to hone my skills further so I traveled to Washington D.C. to the Mubadala CITI DC Open, a combined ATP/WTA 500 level event but was unable to join the ball person team due to a scheduling conflict so I became an usher instead. It was still an awesome experience because not only did I get to watch a ton of tennis, but I got to sit down! It made me realize that volunteering in any capacity gave me the same sense of satisfaction, and it was not as physically challenging. 

While in D.C. I got to see some of my favorite players like Sebastian Korda and Maria Sakkari and I snagged a photo with Bryan Shelton (and his chart-climbing son, Ben). Bryan was playing the junior circuit when I was growing up and he coached at the University of Florida, my alma mater before leaving to be Ben’s full-time coach. 

My positive tournament experiences inspired me to travel to Stanford University to be a ball person at the Golden Gate Open soon after returning from the DC Open, under the tutelage of Rich Smith who has been training ball persons for almost three decades. He also runs the program at the ATX Open and makes sure everybody knows what they are doing and has fun and stays safe at the same time. This tournament was the first ever ATP/WTA 125 combined tournament in NorCal history where men and women earned equal prize money. And if it wasn’t for a deep freeze that froze the pipes in my house, I would have trekked back to Indian Wells Tennis Garden to work the Southern California Open, an ATP 50k Challenger a few weeks after that.  

What compels me to chase these balls? The same reason I chase the USTA gold balls. I love the game of tennis. It’s that simple. Of course that admission won’t come as a surprise to anybody that knows me. Watching tennis on TV is okay. Watching tennis from a stadium seat is even better. But being on court with these players is on another level altogether. The ball just sounds different. You can feel the power of the stroke, the intention, the intensity. I’m not quite sure what game I’ve been playing for the past 40 years because it looks nothing like what I see at court level. It’s easy to get wrapped up in a point and forget that you are not allowed to clap or talk to the players. Watching tennis on TV will never be the same as I oftentimes find myself watching the ball kids more intently than the match itself. Alas, I was warned about this.

Wondering what could be better than watching professional tennis for free? How about getting paid to watch tennis? Yep. That’s my next journey…USTA umpire. Updates to follow…