Australian Open ballkid commended for continuing after baseline collision with Aussie wildcard Dane Sweeny
- Player encounters unsuspecting ball boy while chasing ball
- Ballkid puts the incident aside and continues with his task
- Commentators surprised by the boy’s resilience
A sturdy ball boy at the Aussie Open was praised for carrying on with his job after weathering a high-speed collision with Aussie Dane Sweeny as he tried to return a shot.
Sweeny took a lead over Francisco Cerundolo in the first set when the unfortunate incident occurred on Sunday.
The Aussie wildcard chased a ball towards the back wall and straight into the path of the ball boy.
Sweeny managed to make his shot and then move his arms and racket out of the way to hug the youngster as he bumped into him.
The boy landed on his knee, stood up impressively and continued with his work without complaint.
Dane Sweeny collided with the ball kid as he ran to take a shot
Sweeny managed to grab the child and soften the impact on both of them
“This takes out the ball boy, who just goes back to work as if nothing happened,” said one commentator.
Australian tennis coach Roger Rasheed said the ball boy was “tough”.
‘I’ll just give you a hug on the way. Well done. That was actually a really good attempt by Sweeny to keep that under control,” he said.
The Australian underdog won the first set 6-3.
Sweeny, ranked 257 in the world, has never played against 22nd seed Cerundolo but said before the match that he felt his play was now at a level befitting the sport’s elite players.
Last year, Sweeny qualified for the Shanghai Masters, beating Japanese No. 71 Taro Daniel in straight sets in the first round.
“I think I’m playing the type of tennis that will get me qualified and playing well enough for these big events,” Sweeny said after winning his third qualifying match to secure a spot in the main draw.
“I knew it would happen one day, and for it to happen now is amazing.
Sweeny was taking a lead in the first set over Francisco Cerundolo at the time of the incident
“I can’t wait to play five sets against some of the best players in the world.”
He is one of four Australians in action on Sunday, with Adam Walton, Jason Kubler and Chris O’Connell also flying the home flag.