I was lucky enough to be one of the on-site hitting partners at the 2017 US Open. I’ve been playing tennis since I was four years old, have traveled the world to play tournaments, and have even played in the Junior US Open. But, this experience was unlike any other in my tennis career. For the first time in my life, I was not practicing “for myself.” Instead, my goal was to give professional tennis players the best practice possible, which basically means DO NOT MISS A BALL. Seriously, I don’t know if I’d ever felt that kind of pressure before.

Now, a little backstory. I played my last collegiate match for the University of Florida in late May of 2017….it was now August, and I had trained basically none. I walked onto court 7 at the US Open for my very first practice session with Nicolas Mahut. You know, the guy who played that match against John Isner that went 70-68 in the 5th set at Wimbledon.

He may not be a superstar, but I was still shaking in my boots from the first ball. Thankfully, he just wanted a relaxed warm-up before his qualifying match. I went on to hit with Mahut four more times during the tournament, and he went on to make it to the round of 16. Coincidence? Doubtful.



Over the course of three weeks, I hit with over 20 different professionals at the US Open. They all left an impression on me, but I want to share a few of my favorite experiences with you.

Angelique Kerber

I began hitting with Angelique Kerber about five days before the main draw started. Her coach told me he liked how flat I hit the ball, and they requested I hit with her each day. Kerber works extremely hard! Each practice session is focused and intense, which made me feel even more pressure to be on my best game. Luckily for me, I really liked the ball Kerber hit and usually had my best practice sessions with her.

I remember one of our practices was on the new Grandstand, and the public was allowed to watch. I would guess 2,000 or so people were there (the most I had ever played in front of). We ended up playing some points at the end of the practice, and the only thing I remember was the crowd cheering wildly whenever Kerber hit a nice shot and couldn’t care less if I hit a good one. Talk about humbling. Though I may have been sharing the court with a professional, I quickly realized that my background and tennis accomplishments meant nothing to the spectators. Can’t blame them. I was, after all, standing on the other side of the net from a grand slam champion and former world number 1!

I remember walking to the net at the end of that session to shake hands with Kerber. She smiled wryly, almost embarrassed that the crowd only cared about her. It was very cool to see how humbled she still is after having adoring fans all these years.

When we finished our warm up, I remember telling her good luck and saying goodbye to the coaches as I needed to scurry off to another hit. As I walked away, her coach goes to me “we will see you tomorrow for practice, Maxx.” I was like “sweet! Kerber is gonna be my ticket to go far in this tournament, and hopefully I can watch some of her matches from the players box.”

Well…her coach and I were both wrong. Kerber got demolished 6-3 6-1, and I never saw her or her coaches again.

I really enjoyed my hits with Kerber though and getting to know her team. There was a lot of pressure on her as she was the 2016 champion and 2017 had not been kind to her so far. I am happy to see that she’s regaining her 2016 form. I will always be cheering for her.

Bob and Mike Bryan – Doubles Legends

My next memorable hit was with the Bryan Brothers. I remember getting a call the night before the session from Joe Schafer, the man in charge of assigning practice partners to players, and I straight up told him to find someone else. I am not nearly a good enough doubles player to share the court with the Bryan Bros. Joe went on to ramble about some of my college doubles highlights (top 15 in country, semi-finalist at All-Americans), and I bluntly told him something like, “I highly encourage you to find someone else…but if you can’t, I will gladly give it a go.” Thankfully, Joe didn’t find anyone else, and I got the experience of a lifetime.

The Bryan Brothers style of doubles is a dying breed. They are the truest form of what a doubles team should look and play like in my opinion. They serve and volley almost exclusively and work together as a pair on the court (which Ryan mentions as being vital in his Doubles Post). With the new technology in the game today, players are able to be successful doubles players while playing like singles players. They use their massive serves and overpowering groundstrokes.

I say this because I want you to truly appreciate what the Bryan Brothers have been able to accomplish over the last decade and a half. Unfortunately, their style of doubles is becoming more and more rare.



Good Ole’ Fashioned Beating



The actual practice consisted of all point play. I partnered up with Joe (a good college player) to play about 12 service games. Honestly, I played about as well as I could, and we maybe held serve twice. We NEVER came close to getting a break point on their serve. The way they hit their spots on serve and with the net man closing tightly, you feel as if there is no open space to hit into.

I even tried a few lob returns, but almost every time the server would take it out of the air and get to the net right away. As a player you felt suffocated. You’re under immense pressure on every shot. They seemingly were always in the right spot at the right time. I guess that’s just a few reasons why they’ve won 116 titles together…



Sloane Stephens – The US Open Champion!

The final player I’m going to talk about is none other than 2017 US Open Champion, Sloane Stephens. The first time we were supposed to hit, we were on a practice court sharing it with two other players. We hit for about five minutes when a court next to us was open and there was one player there looking for a hit. Sloane asked the girl if she wanted to hit so that they could have a full court. And just like that, my job was done. They told me thanks, and I went on my way.

The next day I was paired to hit with Sloane again. I went out to the practice court, and again, we were sharing it with a player and their coach. I’m sure you see where this is going…

Sloane asked the player to hit so they could have the full court, and boom, after hitting about five balls, my job was done. Sloane and her team apologized, which wasn’t necessary, and I went on my way…assuming this just wasn’t meant to be.

Finally, the next day we had a full court to ourselves, and I didn’t get kicked off! For the next two weeks, I hit with Sloane every day on her way to capturing her very first Grand Slam title. Pretty impressive considering after injury and eight weeks earlier she was ranked outside the top 900.

Dream Come True in Arthur Ashe Stadium

One of the more memorable things I was able to do during my time at the Open, was hit on the biggest tennis stadium in the world. The dimensions of the court may be like any other court, but it certainly did not feel that way. As a kid, I dreamed about playing on Ashe Stadium, and though this wasn’t to play in the US Open, I still felt humbled to have the opportunity to play on the court. I felt very fortunate to play on Ashe many times during my fortnight at the Open.

My Takeaways from a Champion

One of the things I learned firsthand about professional athletes is how superstitious they are. On Sloane’s day off after her quarterfinal win over Yulia Putintseva, Sloane asked how my job was going (I was also working in the locker room) during a changeover while we were practicing. I casually mentioned that today was my last day, and I was flying home tomorrow.

I felt like I had just told her Santa wasn’t real. She immediately yelled over to her coach about me leaving. Then, both of them told me “You aren’t leaving.” I was like, “uhh I have a flight, and I am also leaving for England in 4 days…” They didn’t care. They said “we are buying you a new flight home, and that’s the end of that.”

Sooo yeah….professional athletes are a little bit superstitious. But, to be completely fair, she did end up winning the tournament, and I got to sit in the players box for the Semi-finals and Finals which was an unforgettable experience. Seeing the raw emotion from Sloane and her entire team firsthand as she came up to the box to celebrate was really cool. So, I wasn’t really complaining about staying an extra three days.





Sloane is Special

Two other things stuck out to me about my time with Sloane. The first was the belief she had in herself. Throughout the tournament, she was tested with very tough, three set matches, but her confidence never wavered. She was able to raise her game at every big occasion. A true sign of a champion! When she won her finals match, she improved her record to 6-0 in WTA Finals. Let that sink in. To win your first six finals matches of your career is unbelievable.

I also learned she’d been taking online college classes the last couple of years and was set to graduate in December 2017. Even though she was making millions of dollars playing tennis, she knew the value of getting a college education. She’s not only a tennis champion, but a true role model.



An Unforgettable Experience

My time as a hitting partner at the US Open was an experience of a lifetime. It even led me to be a hitting partner for Team USA in the Fed Cup Final in Belarus. More on that soon!

Anyway, I could go on and on about every player I hit with at the Open, and I love talking about it. So, feel free to comment below or tweet me @tennis_takes. I am more than happy to answer any questions!

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