Pro Tennis Returns to the Bronx, but for How Long?

When 13-year-old Naisha Rathi learned she could try out to be a ball girl at the new professional women’s tennis tournament at the Cary Leeds Center in Crotona Park, she knew she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Rathi, a Queens native who will be a freshman this fall at the Beacon School in Manhattan and who plays tennis at the center year-round, saw it as a chance to get up close and personal with some real live pros.

“It’s awesome to see them here,” Rathi said of the players competing at the N.Y.J.T.L. Bronx Open, where main draw matches begin Sunday. “It’s supercool and exciting because we always dream about seeing them or being like them, and actually seeing them in real life and playing, it’s so much motivation.”

But it is unclear how long Rathi will be able to see the players up close. The Bronx Open is a transitional event, and it may not take place again next year.

Source: The New York Times

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