Wimbledon: Ball girls on what it’s like playing the pros on court – BBC News

Have you ever wanted to attend a huge event in person? Maybe you’d love to go to the Euros, or to see your favourite band.

But while it’s fun to imagine being part of the crowd, two teenagers from Surrey have taken that idea to the next level by playing tennis against some pros on court at Wimbledon.

In a clip posted by the official Wimbledon social accounts, the girls can be seen facing Britain’s Jamie Delgado and Juan Sebastián Cabal from Colombia.

Saran and Aashny have spoken to BBC Newsbeat about how they went from playing a supporting role to becoming part of the main event.

The girls were working as ball girls during the Gentleman’s Invitational Doubles games at the time.

The event features former professional tennis players and is less competitive than the ladies’ and men’s singles.

“They don’t take it too seriously,” says Aashny. “They like to have a joke about.”

“They just turned round to us and were like, ‘Do you wanna play?’

And of course the friends had to say yes.

The pair spent about five minutes swapping lobs with the pro players, with the crowd cheering every time they struck the ball.

Held in south-west London every summer, more than 500,000 people attend each year, according to organisers.

They told BBC Newsbeat they were made aware of the opportunity when starting at their secondary school, which is partnered with Wimbledon.

“I’ve wanted to do this since I was in Year 7,” says Aashny.

Many local schools have a connection with the tennis tournament and students can put themselves forward for the role of ball girl or ball boy.

When entering Year 10 in September 2023, they jumped at the chance.

“We started training and each week certain people would get through to the next round,” says Aashny.

Then they got picked for the Wimbledon trial, where more people were eliminated.

“It’s a long selection process,” she says.