Fetch! Canines take the role of ‘ball dogs’
Four-legged friends draw cheers and applause
>> LONDON: Hattie, Tina and Melvin played a different kind of game of fetch on Thursday when the canines took to a London court for the opening of the Champions Tennis tournament — working alongside ball boys and girls.
Arriving on court to the sound of the song Who Let the Dogs Out, the canines drew cheers and applause from the audience as they helped retrieve stray balls in a doubles match between players Mansour Bahrami, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Henri Leconte and Mikael Pernfors.
Hattie, Tina and Melvin were provided for the event by the charity Canine Partners, which trains dogs to help people with disabilities, and had to learn new skills for the job.
“Normally they’re used to picking things up within the job that we use them for, so we may drop pens and inhalers and they’re used to retrieving things for us, but we don’t generally use an awful lot of tennis balls,” Canine Partners Aftercare Manager Claire Anthony said.
“We’ve been going to lots of tennis courts and working around self-control around people playing tennis and then retrieving balls and towels.”
Former British No.1 Tim Henman helped train the dogs for the Dec 6-9 tournament, which is held annually at London’s Royal Albert Hall with plenty of the sport’s veteran players taking to the court.
“What do they say about working with animals and children? Don’t do it,” Henman joked at a news conference beforehand.
“Ball dogs” are not new in tennis, with some canines having already appeared on court at the Brazil Open.
SERENA’S POP-UP SHOP
Strong. Sophisticated. Sexy. Like the tennis champ herself, Serena Williams’ fashion line is all about power moves and she’s hoping it will also inspire woman to find their own voice.
“I want everyone to be able to do that and to step into their power,” she said on Wednesday night at the launch of her first pop-up shop.
Williams launched her shop at the luxe Faena hotel during Miami’s Art Basel where guests, including fellow tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, drank cocktails draped with fluffy pink cotton candy and snapped selfies from a life-size swing covered with botanicals.
Everything in the line, from a black sequined top with the word “Unbothered” to a crisp, white button-down that says “Slay” in red letters, is under US$200.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion not only designed all the clothing in the shop, but also painted all the art on the walls, saying many of the paintings took a month to complete because of their intricate textures.
“I’ve painted for years, probably like ten years now. It’s my outlet,” she said. “I jokingly said I’m going to be at Art Basel one day.”