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We joined the US Open ball crew for a day. It's harder than it looks.

Sonia Rao

Published Aug 26, 2026

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Four images of closeups of people holding tennis balls behind their backs

Christian Delfino for Gothamist

Sonia Rao

Published Aug 26, 2026

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The tennis ball bounced slightly as it rolled across the court. This wouldn’t do.

I tried again to see if I could achieve a smoother roll. Nope. My too-buoyant ball traveled to the service line with a skip in its step. Everyone else’s balls slid along with grace, as though invisible strings were slowly dragging them across the ground. How on earth?

You see, I’m only a reporter. The people showing me up were official members of the U.S. Open ball crew, attending their final training before the big tournament begins on Aug. 30 at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens. Members of the ball crew retrieve stray balls during matches and supply world-class players with new ones. They also fetch towels and hold sun umbrellas over players taking a break.

Around 3,500 people applied for a place on the team this past spring. That number dwindled to the 650 people who made it to tryouts. Only 315 reached the finish line.

Trainees include reporter Sonia Rao, top row, third from left.

Christian Delfino for Gothamist

Being part of the ball crew is “very taxing, physically and mentally,” said Neal Kitson, a former soccer player now in his third year as director of the crew. “You’re [working] 90 minutes in this heat. You have to be able to withstand those conditions and perform at a very high level.”

Ball crew members alternate on and off the court for 90 minutes at a time — the exact length of this training session held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for about 50 members of the crew (there were six different training sessions). It was a cloudy August afternoon but hot and humid, essentially a trial by fire. No matter. These kids were beaming in their head-to-toe Ralph Lauren uniforms.

Ball crew trainees.

Christian Delfino for Gothamist

I say “kids” because, while some members of the ball crew are in their 30s and 40s, most are actual teenagers. You only have to be 14 to work for the U.S. Open — as is the case across most of New York — and at $19 an hour, the ball crew is paid a little more than minimum wage.

Everyone buzzed with excitement as they navigated the stacks of cardboard boxes holding their navy blue and green polos with coordinating shorts or skorts, which they get to keep after the tournament is over. Wearing their matching Polo uniforms, they hit the field courts to test their focus and stamina while running through a series of exercises.

After a dozen rounds of rolling the balls back and forth across a half-court, we began to practice bouncing the balls from a distance to reach a player waist-high, as you might when supplying them with a new ball before a serve. (In case you were wondering, my first bounce didn’t reach my partner; I really had to throw my shoulder into it.) I took a break to observe other courts and noticed a girl with glittery streamers woven into her long hair. They glistened in the daylight.

Christian Delfino for Gothamist

“That’s my daughter,” said a woman on the bleachers, her voice wavering with emotion. Surrounded by her luggage, Christy Carlsen, a physician assistant, said she had just flown in from Kentucky with her 17-year-old daughter, Matilyn. Matilyn is the best tennis player at her high school and teaches classes at the local country club, according to Carlsen. When Matilyn asked her mother earlier this year if they could fly to New York so she could try out for the ball crew, the answer was a no-brainer.

“You never know what connections you’ll make or career paths you’ll learn about while you’re here,” Carlsen said. “She’s our baby. I couldn’t be more proud.”

Matilyn walked over a little later and said that she was most excited to experience the rush of being able “to smile and look around and realize, ‘I’m here.’”

Christian Delfino for Gothamist

Game play began after the ball-bouncing exercises. Supervisors stood in for players and hit to each other while six members of the crew — which is how many stand on the court during matches — retrieved balls and practiced tossing new ones to the person serving.

The supervisors yelled instructions over the loud hums of planes flying low overhead as they prepared to land at nearby LaGuardia Airport. The crew’s bright yellow Polo sneakers squeaked as they shuffled across the courts. One boy stumbled and began to say sorry, to which Kitson gently responded, “You don’t have to apologize. Let’s just learn from it, okay? I know you’re sorry.”

On another court, veterans of the ball crew lounged on the bleachers as they watched their peers casually volley back and forth. Given how young people tend to be when they begin working on the crew, some of these veterans are only in their early 20s.

At 23, Aaron Zanger is in his fifth and what he says is his final year: “I just graduated college [at] NYU, so I’ve always had the flexibility to be able to do it,” he said. “This is my last year, or so it seems right now. As I start work, I don’t know what kind of availability I’ll have.”

Christian Delfino for Gothamist

Zanger grew up in Manhattan and said he has attended the U.S. Open “for as long as I can remember.” But as tickets grew more expensive, being a part of the ball crew became an affordable way to get some of the best seats in the house. A few years ago, he worked primetime matches at Arthur Ashe Stadium and crewed for top-rated players such as Poland’s Iga Świątek and Italy’s Jannik Sinner (the latter of whom is taking a break from the tournament this year).

“That was crazy. But as it says in Ashe, ‘Pressure is a privilege,’” Zanger said, referring to the Billie Jean King quote immortalized at Ashe Stadium on a plaque.

Christian Delfino for Gothamist

Honorato “Harry” Villareal is a Queens native who started on the ball crew back in 1989, when he was 14 years old. He worked his first final in 1994, the year Andre Agassi stunned tennis fans by winning the tournament after entering unseeded: “That’s always going to be close to my heart,” he said, playfully noting that Agassi still “had the long hair.” Villareal also crewed during five different finals with Roger Federer.

This is Villareal’s 38th year as part of the team; he was promoted to supervisor more than a decade ago. He said he is grateful to be able to serve as a mentor to kids as young as he once was. This could be some of their first jobs, he said, adding that supervisors work to instill the importance of being on time and respecting co-workers.

Christian Delfino for Gothamist

“We look at the person and are like, ‘After this, what’s next for you?’” Villareal said. “You can do the job and put your heart and soul in it, [but] it’s only a three-week tournament. What happens after that? Maybe it’s a confidence booster. Like, ‘Okay, it’s a job, and I did it well.’ And now hopefully that’ll go with them the rest of their lives.”

Villareal’s 19-year-old son is following in his footsteps by taking part in the ball crew this year. On my way back to the train, I see the two eating lunch on a bench outside of the tennis center. I wave goodbye, sweaty and red in the face from all of the activity.

Christian Delfino for Gothamist

I'd gotten a little better at the exercises as we continued, fine-tuning my focus and reflexes, but eventually stepped aside so the crew members in training didn’t have to spend time training me, too. I watched as they listened attentively to their supervisors and smiled when they got something right. They were almost ready for the main stage.

“I just want him to have this experience,” Villareal said of his son. “And if it’s something that he likes, maybe he can do it for as long as I have.”

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated which US Open events Iga Świątek is taking part in.

Christian Delfino for Gothamist

Tagged

Existing in New York City

queens

sports

Sonia Rao

Sonia Rao is a culture reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. She previously covered entertainment and breaking news at The Washington Post. Got a tip? Email [email protected].

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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