Famous Tennis Player Dog Names

Although dogs and tennis have been nearly inextricably linked through the iconically bright, yellow, fuzzy tennis ball, most of the activities that have involved the two have nearly always been off-court. After all, who likes dealing with dogs’ nails scraping nearly all types of courts, the possibility of running into the net, potentially ruining active play, or any number of other possibilities these sometimes messy animals could pose? Surely not the organizations that maintain the playing surfaces. Because of it, dogs have almost always been quarantined from populous play areas and courts and forced to play in yards, dog parks, and fields worldwide — although the dogs surely don’t seem to mind.

While numerous amateurs have skirted the rules on local courts in their own neighborhoods, dogs had never really been used in any official capacity, despite their penchant for fetching and retrieving. That is, until 2015, when organizers of Auckland, New Zealand’s ASB Classic tennis tournament decided to get a bit unconventional when selecting their ball-boys for the event. Instead of the normal, athletic youth that sprint on court to retrieve dead balls, three dogs were featured instead: Ted, a Bull Mastiff, Oscar, a Border Collie, and Super Teddy, a Jack Russell-Norfolk Terrier-Miniature Schnauzer mix. 

While their selection and employment were surely part of a clever marketing scheme to promote the event, the dogs were undeniably efficient in their duties, waiting and watching with perfect patience for a ball to finally drop before skirting across the court in record time to move balls out of play. They not only aptly garnered the title “The Best Ball Boys in the World” but also entertained both the crowd and the players themselves. 

The names at the event were none to scoff at either. Facing off in a singles match were Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova, considered two of the modern era’s most highly-regarded players. If the viral video is any indication, it seems that all parties involved — the dogs, the crowd, and the players — all had an equally fun time with it. 

Unfortunately, while these or other dogs may be employed in the future and find similar success like those used in some lower-key Brazilian matches, it might be their limit in terms of tennis-related abilities — although YouTube may claim otherwise. A quick search of “dogs playing tennis” proves that quite quickly, as although there are quite a few veritable pros who can fetch balls midair with incredible speed, height, and accuracy, not even Crusoe the Celebrity Dachshund can truly play tennis without the help of some clever editing techniques.