How the US Opens jumbo tennis ball became a cute, furry yellow harbinger of doom

FLUSHING, NY Against the blue and green backdrop of the Billie Jean King Tennis Center courts, the yellow ball rolling back and forth between two rackets stands out.

That's before you see the yellow balls in the stands. They're still there, but they're bigger.

On Thursday morning on Court 7, a small but captivated crowd watched Diana Shnaider, the Russian No. 18 who is having the kind of year tennis fans pay attention to. She faced Denmark’s Clara Tauson, who was roughly on the same level as Shnaider in 2022 before a series of back and foot injuries stalled her progress.

At 2-4, 15-30, with Tauson serving, the judges in the chairs at the side of the court, slightly higher than the umpires' chairs, had seen enough.

Two more rounds, said one. Then we can go down.

They meant points, but it’s easy to make a mistake when you’re just a kid holding the most coveted piece of merchandise at the US Open. A jumbo-sized tennis ball, 11 inches tall and emblazoned with the Wilson logo, like the smaller ones blown and feathered between the white lines, is as essential as a water bottle and a hat. It’s a canvas for autographs from the headliners, a souvenir of a day out. It’s also been transformed into a hazy yellow harbinger of doom.

All sorts of tennis balls the size of a giant ball are in the stands when the matches are over. (Kena Betancur/Getty Images)

Signing autographs after a match is one of the sacred obligations a tennis player assumes when he enters the tournament court. Fans are not supposed to be allowed to move, even though the loser is usually granted the grace of a quick exit, especially in matches of greater magnitude. Balls are passed over catwalks for the winner and notepads are hung down steep banks.

Things don’t always go according to script, as Novak Djokovic found out the hard way in Rome earlier this year. An eager spectator, not a child, not holding a ball, reached out to give the 24-time Grand Slam champion a high-five and instead accidentally dropped a metal water bottle from his backpack onto Djokovic’s head. Djokovic sought medical attention, lost his next match in disorientation, and then went to Belgrade for concussion tests.

GALLING DEEPER

Djokovic wears bike helmet to Italian Open after being hit by water bottle

In New York, there are no such concerns. Backpacks are banned, as crowd controllers loudly and frequently remind fans walking the Mets-Willets Point boardwalk.

The same fans surge forward at the start of the match, the set or the match, no matter the occasion. Court or stadium court, favorite player of all time or a player they didn’t know existed until they sat down to watch them play for their tennis lives, the ritual is the same. Ball under arm. Permanent marker in hand. The conciliatory handing over of $50, and perhaps a little flattery to an ultimately willing parent, has happened before.

The balls are on display at Wilson's store, which also sells the balls used on the tennis courts themselves. (Julia Nikhinson / Associated Press)

That ball, which costs $53.29 at the Wilson store checkout counter, edging out the $23 Honey Deuce cocktail as Flushing’s most insidious bit of inflation, is made where Wilson tennis balls are made on the courts. (The extra-service vs. regular-service debate between the men’s and women’s courts, briefly laid to rest in 2023 when both sides used the latter, is back in 2024.)

They look and feel like tennis balls, but they don’t bounce like one, allowing a happy, newly minted customer to dribble them like a basketball on their way to the court. The Wilson balls have the cachet, but any brand can put a logo on a tennis ball. Streetwear mega-brand Kith has made one in collaboration with Wilson in the past. It was $23 cheaper online when it released than the US Open ball locally, but it’ll fetch triple figures online, pre-owned and undamaged.

Normally, the collection of signatures only takes place at the end.

But this U.S. Open, more crowded than last year, which was the busiest in history, requires some planning ahead. There are more people and more oversized tennis balls, and the same number of players on the court. So look at every scoreboard that says one of them has not much longer to go in the tournament, and you’ll probably see a cluster of giant tennis balls slowly bobbing down the steps. Tennis can sometimes come down to a single point, but the kids aren’t interested in making a comeback.

Lucia Bronzetti, the Italian who had an eye full of clay after knocking Naomi Osaka out of the French Open, found herself in a tough spot against Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday. For most players, that's the tough spot of being on a hard court with the Belarusian world number two, who will defend her Australian Open title for the second time in January and hasn't dropped a set on court in 2011. After her 6-3, 6-1 win, she greeted a mini-fan on the sidelines, dressed in her outfit and carrying a small tiger toy.

It's such a motivation to continue and inspire the young generation. That's the main goal. Yes, that was a very cute moment, Sabalenka said.

Aryna Sabalenka is greeted by tennis balls after the victory. (Julia Nikhinson / Associated Press)

Young tennis fans clutching their souvenir, ready to meet their hero, is also cute. Serving at 1-5 in the second set, Bronzetti probably saw nothing but an eye full of woven yellow, the Roman emperor’s thumbs down for her impending defeat.

On court 7, Tauson kept them waiting. A few pinging groundstrokes in the corners and Shnaider had to serve for the win. The match was on her racket, but the outcome was far from certain. This was no deterrent to the deciders. We can go now, said another at the changeover, as he hurried past the stands.

A young girl gave Tauson a chance, staying higher and holding the ball tightly.

It wasn’t easy for Shnaider. After she reached 30-0, Tauson leaned into a backhand to put her on her heels before a double fault brought the match to 30-30. Still, they waited.

By the time Shnaider reached the net at 40-30, the regular tennis ball fluttering willingly on her racket, ready to be tucked away, the big balls lay behind her chair, in expectant hands.

(Top photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images)