Every tennis tournament tries to do something unique. At the tournaments in Vienna, Stockholm, and a few others, ball boys and ball girls use a racquet with a net (looks like a fishing net) to pick up the ball. 

Vienna has been using the racquet nets for more than 10 years. Even today, it’s not uncommon for TV viewers to be surprised at how these ball kids pick up the balls.

While it’s easier to pick up the balls by hand initially, once the ball kids get familiar with the fishing net, it’s probably more efficient.

Ball kids at tournaments are usually junior tennis players, who can easily handle the ball with a regular racket. But picking up the ball with a fishing net takes practice. I am certain that these tennis tournaments train the kids to use the fishing net effectively. 

Reilly Opelka is one of the most likable tennis players on tour. He is a servebot and he is self-aware. If you ask him why he is not playing on the center court, he will tell you that fans don’t like to watch serve bots like him.

Here is Opelka explaining why Nick Kyrgios is not a servebot.  Servebots must be miserable to watch – a criteria that Nick Kyrgios doesn’t satisfy.

So it should come as no surprise that Reilly Opelka is building a servebot community. He somehow convinced the 5″ 7 in. Diego Schwartzman to be his first follower.

The servebot shirts are one way to show your allegiance to the servebot community.  But they are not for sale yet. But they are soon coming to Fila.