ALFREDTON teenager Rebecca Howard will take to the clay of Roland Garros later this month after impressing officials as a ballkid at the Australian Open in January.
The 15-year-old was one of two ballkids selected from the first grand slam of the year to fly to Paris to take part in the French Open after being named the top gun ballkids at the men’s semi finals earlier this year.
Now in her third year as a ballkid, Howard was selected for both the men’s and women’s Australian Open finals, and also received the call-up for Australia’s Davis Cup tie with the USA at Kooyong.
Howard said one of the secrets to being a successful ballkid was understanding the routines of different players.
“Sharapova only takes the balls from one side of the court, and a couple of other players are like that,” Howard said.
“We don’t get told these things so we’ve got to work them out on the court.”
Howard will fly out this weekend for the tournament which kicks off on Sunday.
