By JARROD POTTER
WHILE most sit back and relax throughout January, Chris Miranda is set for a hectic fortnight, retrieving balls and hopefully not too many thrown racquets at the Australian Open.
Rosswood Tennis Club’s 15-year-old Chris Miranda, of North Dandenong, has been a regular part of the Australian Open for the last three tournaments as one of the highly visible ball kids.
Miranda is set to make the next two weeks count as he farewells the ball kid ranks.
“It’s my fourth year coming up as a ball boy and it’s my last year as well because when you hit 15 you have to stop,” Miranda said.
“It’s been great as not many kids get to do it – 2500 try out and only 380 get selected and they cut a lot of kids out that never get the chance.”
Forced retirement at 15 means this will be Chris’ last campaign and he wants to go out on top, hopefully as part of the ground crew for a final – getting him back onto Rod Laver Court.
“I think I’ve become more of a leader as you’ve got to show the younger ones (ball kids), or the first years, around a lot as they’re still new to Melbourne Park,” Miranda said.
“I wouldn’t mind getting a final… that would be good. I’ve never had one before, so you just have to be consistent with everything on court.”
Looking back on his highlights from the Opens, Miranda had the great luck to be part of a match featuring current men’s world number one Rafael Nadal and also enjoyed watching rising stars like Li Na and David Ferrer ascend the ATP/WTP rankings.
“In my second year 2011, I got Nadal, not sure who he versed but got into that,” Miranda said.
“It was a good experience… it was my first time on Rod Laver (Court) so it was great fun.
“In my first year I got Li Na and David Ferrer when they weren’t ranked as highly so it was good to see them play as well.”
The Australian Open runs from 13-26 January in Melbourne with ground pass tickets starting from $34.
In other Australian Open news, Dandenong-raised tennis player Marinko Matosevic – world number 61 in men’s tennis – will face 16th seed Kei Nishikori from Japan.
