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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Stephen Douglas

US Open Ballboy Wins Epic Battle With Unlikely Insect Opponent

A U.S. Open ballboy reacts to his viral moment.

Frances Tiafoe beat Grigor Dimitrov in the U.S. Open men's singles quarterfinals on Tuesday night. After splitting the first two sets, Tiafoe took the lead in the third and Dimitrov retired during the fourth, sending Tiafoe to the semifinals.

The most tense moment of the match came during the second set when Tiafoe wanted a bug removed from the playing surface. That responsibility fell to one of the ballboys who immediately entered into a delicate dance with the grasshopper or whatever it was. The point is, the bug was quick and the ballboy had trouble corralling it.

After a few seconds of struggling in front of the sellout crowd the ballboy briefly appeared to let his basest instincts come into play and tried to stomp the bug. That's when another ballboy got involved and they were finally able to grab the distraction.

As the ballboy ran off with his hand triumphantly raised he got a rousing ovation. And then the reality that he was going to be written about online set in. Luckily he came out victorious.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as US Open Ballboy Wins Epic Battle With Unlikely Insect Opponent.

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