Get ready for tennis without the ball kids | India News

Somdev Devvarman’s earliest towel memory is from two decades ago.It was the 1998 Chennai Open, the all-Indian combine of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were blazing a trail. “They were using the same towel, it was grossing us out,” says Devvarman, who had just blown out 13 candles on his birthday cake. While the craft that the duo churned out had the crowd on its feet, their towel etiquette wasn’t quite model conduct.Bhupathi doesn’t feign ignorance, but won’t claim the act, either. “Good chance,” he says, “that was more than 20 years ago.” Also, a world sans the worries stirred by a deadly virus, Covid-19. Welcome to 2020, the year that stopped as soon it started. 75737619The one thing most likely to change when the ATP and WTA Tours chalk the courts again, is ball kids being relieved of butler duties. The towel rack or box, an accommodative feature at courtside that debuted in the Next Gen ATP Finals two years ago, is likely to be a regular feature when the Tours reboot. large75737495Devvarman, 35, who rose to a career-high No. 62 in the rankings in the summer of 2011, was a ball kid in local tournaments in Chennai. He was 11 then and was only required to chase after the pelt. On bigger stages, like the Tour events and Grand Slams where rules of play are as much for the players as for those who stand in attendance around the court, ball kids are often seen ferrying sweat-soaked, sometimes snorty or bloodstained, towels for players. They also collect drinks from ice boxes, and on occasion peel bananas and open wrappings of energy bars when players settle into courtside chairs during changeovers.Devvarman thinks those functions are archaic as he calls for towel racks to be rolled out when umpires call love-all again.“The ATP was always very clear that if any part of you is bleeding, don’t allow a ball kid to handle your towel,” he says, adding that the fraternity hadn’t looked closely at all that was required of a ball kid a decade ago. “These kids have to deal with a bunch of players who are constantly travelling. The kid may have an older parent or someone in the high-risk category at home. Why would you want to put someone in that position?” Former Davis Cupper Gaurav Natekar, now a commentator and sports entrepreneur, shrugs at the hygiene angle. He points at star players who toss their soaking tees into the stands after matches and spectators going crazy, falling all over each other to catch the keepsake. Sai Jayalakshmy Jayaram, a Fed Cupper whose almost-four-year-old son Rudra has started hitting tennis balls, says in a pre-Covid world, she wouldn’t have thought twice about her son being a ball kid. “When these kids stand before a player who they almost worship, believe me, they are not thinking sweat or snort,” she said, “To the superstar player, a Roger Federer or a Serena Williams, the ball kid may be part of the scenery when they are in the middle of a match, but it is completely different for the child, most of who are training to be tennis players.” medium75738229But, she warns: “The world we are living in now is completely different from what we knew it, even in January. Still, I would say, athletes are different animals. When I was playing, a decade ago, we’d lay out towels on the ground to do our stretching after practice. God knows who peed there or spat there 24 hours ago. We’d change towels the next day and get on with it.” 75737794There’s more to the towel debate than hygiene. The Chennai-based Devvarman, who came through the US Collegiate system where they often played without ball kids, insists players are adept at adapting. “The shot clock at the back of the court checked a lot of players,” he points out, recalling the early resistance. “Novak Djokovic used to bounce the ball some 24 times when he was preparing to serve, that has changed. When it’s asked of them, players respond quickly. large75740919“Some players use their towel after every point, it’s a habit which must change. Andy Roddick used to be that way, he used to sweat a lot and didn’t wear wrist bands, or maybe it was his way of resetting,” Devvarman muses. “In the lower levels of the game, at the Challengers, players used it for a breather between long points, using it to steal time, so while hygiene is the main focus of this conversation, that’s not all it is about.” medium75738499Natekar, whose father Nandu was a champion badminton player of the 50s, wonders why tennis players are so privileged that they should be handed towels between points. “Why can’t they get it themselves? It’s they who want to towel off,” he says. “I don’t know why they just don’t keep a towel on their seats. Each time a player wants to use it, he can walk up to his chair.”Towel etiquette should rightly be the order of play when the games resume. mediumVideo Credit: WimbledonUntitled Carousel 75729198