World Tennis Tournament Standards in Turkmenistan
Who is the focus of television cameras and spectators at tennis matches? Of course, these are players and referees. But we forget about the other participants in the game, who perform their difficult work. For example, boys and girls who serve players with balls, or, speaking the language of tennis, ballboys. For the first time, the ballboys were used at Wimbledon in 1920, and the ballgirls were used in 1977.
Ballboys and ballgirls worked at the Ashgabat open tennis championship, which ended today, where about 200 athletes participated. Today, the Tennis Federation of Turkmenistan is intensifying work on the preparation of ballboys and line judges as part of the transition to international standards for the organization of competitions. 90 ballboys and 60 line judges have now been selected.
- Each tournament we will provide them with practice. This will help to fairly and correctly serve the matches,” said the representative of the Federation Igor Zubkov.
Suppose, at high speed, the line judge sees the ball better than the judge on the tower. So it contributes to making the right decisions in contentious situations. Maximum conditions are created for players so that they are not distracted during the game - after all, everyone is focused exclusively on their work.
On the court, the ballboys have the opportunity to personally observe the actions of professional players, their technical skills and tactics of the game. They can feel the “backstage” atmosphere of tennis. For dedicated tennis fans, being a ballboy is a dream come true. It’s the same as visiting Disneyland for all other children.
- I clearly realized that the ability to be on the court helps to better understand the game and appreciate its beauty. I used to watch a lot of tennis matches on TV, but best of all you understand what the pitch, impact power and rotation of the ball are when you are on the receiving side of the court,” says one of the bboys.
The work of a bboy requires utmost care and concentration. Before each tournament, the ballboys and line judges get together to once again discuss the team's joint actions and changes in tennis rules.
Ayna BERDYYEVA
