Back to the Tennis Newsfeed

For $2.20 an Hour, the U.S. Open’s First Ball Boys Held Court With the Greats

The McEvily brothers — Tom and Rich — were ball boys at the inaugural United States Open in 1968.

“Best job we ever had,” said Tom McEvily, now 67 and the president of an insurance brokerage in White Plains. “We got paid $2.20 an hour to watch the greatest players in the world compete against each other. It was just incredible.”

At the time, McEvily was a member of the Fordham Prep tennis program in the Bronx. For two decades, it sent players to the U.S. Open to work as ball boys, turning a minimum wage job into a priceless fantasy for teenagers in love with the game.