With young players cropping up in the tennis world, the current pool boasts awe-inducing talent. However, this has come from legends like Roger Federer and Serena Williams, as young players have grown up watching these icons and idolizing them. The case of Jesper De Jong, who is involved in an intriguing battle with Carlos Alcaraz, is no exception. Moreover, he also shares an interesting co-incidence with his idol, Roger Federer.

De Jong followed the Swiss maestro after taking tennis at a young age and tried to watch his game closely. As a result, he also went on the same path as Federer. During his childhood, De Jong was a ball kid at the ATP 500 tournament in Rotterdam. He watched the players closely there during his stint and years later, went on to play there.

For the record, Roger Federer also started by being a ball kid at his home tournament in Basel. Subsequently, he went on to become one of the most successful players there.

However, De Jong hasn’t gone beyond the first round of the ATP 500 tournament in Rotterdam. Despite his not-so-impressive run of late, the Dutch star is giving Carlos Alcaraz a run for his money. After losing the opening two sets, De Jong made a thrilling comeback to win the third set.

Meanwhile, Federer is considered Basel’s favorite ballboy. Before emerging on the tennis circuit, the Swiss maestro spent a long time on the courts in Basel, sometimes as a ball boy and sometimes asking players for autographs.

When Roger Federer chased players to collect their autographs

During an interview a few years back, Federer cherished his time working as a ballboy. Working in this role, the 20-time Grand Slam champion got to watch intriguing tennis action closely. What’s more, he even got behind the players to collect autographs from them.

As humble as it may sound, Federer revealed, “[I collected] a lot of the stickers as well. There was a year, I guess it was the beginning of the 90s when all the old tennis players were in [a book].”

Further, he went on to add, “It was about the tournaments, about the trophies, about the players, so I got to know them all. And then eventually also became a ball boy in my hometown event in Basel. I used to chase the players for autographs, which at the time was not a big deal, as the selfie didn’t exist. So those are my memories really from back then.”

De Jong can follow Federer’s path to strive for success. Coming from a similar humble background, the Dutch youngster still has a long way to go in his tennis career.