This year, for the first time, our sighting day took place before the summer vacation. The numerous young people who applied for a role as a ball kid at the Erste Bank Open 2024 were given the opportunity to put their tennis knowledge and sporting skills to the test at various stations during the try-outs: Match simulations, star run, walk-on-court staging or rolling, catching and throwing balls were on the program. In the end, only 60 to 80 kids will make the cut and truly be a ballkid at the Erste Bank Open.

This year, as every year, a prominent tennis player was on court with the future ball kids: this time Nico Langmann, Austria's best wheelchair tennis player and Paralympics participant, took the opportunity to talk shop with the ball kids and give a demonstration of his great skills.

It was an impressive day for everyone, during which the participants also received goodie bags from spark7 and a packed lunch filled with apples and muesli bars from Adamah and lemonade from Thalheim. In addition, all participants received free tickets for our spark7 Next Gen Day powered by Stadt Wien at the Erste Bank Open on Monday, October 21, 2024.