62-year-old is having a ball at Open

Jerry Loughran is having a ball at the U.S. Open this year.

In fact, he's having several hundred balls, maybe a thousand.

The 62-year-old retired employment lawyer from Garden City is the oldest ballperson at the Open, and maybe the oldest ballperson ever at a national championship.

There he was Monday morning, retrieving balls and handling towels for two junior players who are less than a third of his age, 18-year-olds Andrea Collarini and Juan Sebastian Gomez.

"I grew up in Rego Park and went to the West Side Tennis Club to watch the Open when it was there and found it fascinating to watch the ball boys and everything they did," Loughran said yesterday in "The Perch," abandoned stands between the Armstrong and Grandstand stadiums where the ballpersons (mostly teenagers) gather to be dispatched for matches. "I thought it would be neat to try to do that, but I couldn't get the time off for it. I was working and had a family ."

So four years ago, after he retired, he thought he would give it a shot and went to the tryouts. He made it to the second round, but didn't get called back. It was suggested he try his hand at a local tournament, and got his chance at a men's pro tournament at the West Side Tennis Club.

He intended to go to the Open tryouts the next year, but his wife surprised him with a 60th birthday gift of a trip to Ireland, which took place during the tryouts. So, working on his conditioning, he came back last year, was designated for the Open qualifying tournament, and based on his performance in that event, he was given a slot in the main draw. He was asked back again this year.

"I was really breaking down last year and wasn't sure that I could do it again this year," Loughran said. "This offseason, I did a lot of yoga, stretching, working on my arm strength. This is the only Slam, I think, where you are required to throw the ball from one end of the court to the other."

Loughran played tennis in high school, then recreationally for a while. While watching professional tennis, he was fascinated by the choreography of the ballpersons, and now he's part of their big dance, keeping up with colleagues young enough to be his grandchildren (he has two).

The biggest match he's worked was Caroline Wozniacki-Flavia Pennetta on the Grandstand last year and he's worked a match on Grandstand this year.

"I don't think I'll ever make it to Ashe. I don't have the foot speed," Loughran said. "That's OK. I'm doing something I've dreamed about."