Back from the Australia Open, it was time for the four Indian ball kids to throw some names. Excitement overflowed at the IG Airport as the full-of-beans kids relived their memorable moments Down Under. Brushing shoulders with Federer, close encounter with Sharapova and the power of Serena serve; every kid had a tale to tell as they touched base here.The first name 13-year-old Akshat Joshi utters when asked about his Grand Slam experience is, ‘‘Sharapova’’. After a minute he elaborates, ‘‘She asked for directions from me after her match.’’ And almost as an after thought he adds, ‘‘Federer brushed past me too.’’Other than meeting the stars, Akshat had another high. He became the first non-Australian ball boy to appear at the Rod Laver Arena — the Centre Court at Melbourne.These young tennis players were among the ‘lucky’ ones to be picked from the 1500 applicants for this ‘dream job’ at the first Grand Slam event of the year. They had left for Melbourne on January 4 and returned home after the first week of the fortnight-long event.While Akshat and Mandeep Yadav are from Chandigarh, the girls - Radhika Jadhav and Aparna Vyas — are from Mumbai and Bulandshar.Aparna, who started playing tennis just six months back, is now totally hocked to the game. ‘‘It was an absolutely unbelievable experience. After witnessing top-quality tennis from so close, I am thinking of taking up the sport seriously,’’ says the class X student from Delhi Public School, Bulandshahar. For Radhika, who is already into competitive tennis, the ‘ball girl’ experience had a different meaning. With the world tennis’ leading lights just a ‘ball throw’ distance from her it was a golden opportunity to soak in their skills. Radhika talks about Serena’s booming serve with a certain awe. ‘‘There is nothing like the Serena Williams serve. ‘‘I know it is tough but I am going to try really hard to come somewhere close to it,’’ she says.If Radhika will be trying out a new serve, it will be volleys for Akshat. ‘‘The Great Roger Federer volley,’’ is all he can say when asked about the one thing he picked while waiting for the balls at Melbourne.But the four kids had one big regret: Not able to be on court with Sania Mirza. ‘‘That is something we did miss. Since Sania’s match against Serena was not held on a show court, we missed it,’’ she says.
