By Tracy Zwick

The spotlight at the U.S. Open belongs to the players — the stylish shot-making of Carlos Alcaraz, the first-strike ferocity of Aryna Sabalenka, the bullet serve of Ben Shelton. But on the periphery, running sprints in the August heat, kneeling low at the net, or bounce-passing balls into players’ hands, are the members of the ball crew — more than 300 teens and adults who keep the biggest tennis tournament in the country humming. Some of them are your UWS neighbors.

Fundamentally, the ball crew’s job is to keep track of all the balls in play, continuously “send” (i.e., roll) them back to the server’s end of the court, and “ service ” the players throughout each match. Jason Cust, who lives on Central Park West, has worked the Open for more than a decade, risin

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