models v ball boys

Another interesting article which deserves mention:

Models to replace ball boys

From correspondents in Madrid, SpainOctober 16, 2004

FASHION models will replace volunteer ball boys and girls at the Madrid Masters tennis tournament starting this weekend. Tournament organisers today confirmed a report in the sports daily newspaper As, but declined to give details. As said 25 women aged 19 to 27 had been hired to spend a week chasing stray balls for 900 euro ($1530) each under a scheme devised by fashion designer Hugo Boss.

The paper quoted Julio Nieto, identified as the women's coach, as saying the biggest challenge was teaching the game to the models. "How it is played, what a set is, what a game is, when to toss the ball," he said.

My thoughts: Somehow me thinks the biggest challenge will be to get the players to concentrate on the game and not get distracted. Should increase TV ratings though. Tennis might suddenly become interesting to the male population. I think you'll see quite a few camera closeups when the models pick up the balls.

New balls please?