Hitting with the pros a dream job for Palm Desert High tennis star

On Sunday afternoon while the BNP Paribas Open was in full swing on all nine Stadium courts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Danka Kovinic, a 28-year-old pro tennis player from the small country of Montenegro, had reserved time on Practice Court 18.

Kovinic, who was eliminated three days earlier by Emma Raducanu, wanted to work on her game while she stayed in the desert before heading to the tour's next stop in Miami. She needed someone to practice with ... enter Palm Desert High School tennis player Eduardo Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, the top high school tennis player in the desert, is one of a handful of people who have qualified and signed up to be hitting partners with the pros. He lives two minutes away from the Tennis Garden, and if it's not during a school day, he's ready at a moment's notice.

Sunday was a perfect example of what his day can be like.

"I had hit with some pretty good doubles players in the morning and I was just sitting at home, and got the call that someone needed a hitting partner at 4 p.m.," Gonzalez said. "Then on my way there I got another text about someone wanting to hit at 6 p.m. That's what it's like."

Kovinic was his 4 p.m. assignment and all she wanted him to do was feed her some balls so she could work on her forehand. So Gonzalez, with a bag of tennis balls at his feet, hit soft underhanded shots to the corner of the court and Kovinic would whack them back across the net. In this case, the pro didn't want him to hit them back, just keep a rhythm of balls coming to the corner so she could fine tune that particular stroke.

Gonzalez said that was an unusual request from the other times he's hit with players both earlier this year and last year when he did it for the first time.

"That's what I'm there for, to help her find her rhythm and get ready for the next tournament," Gonzalez said. "Every pro has a different request. She was very nice and she asked me about my tournaments and I asked her for some tips so it was a very good experience."

Often you'll see pros hitting with other pros on the practice courts, but Kovinic said she appreciates hitting partners like Gonzalez stepping in for something like this, because she can't really ask another pro to stand there and hit balls to her.

"If I ask for a hitting partner, that means I want to do some specific things that sometimes you can not do with another player," Kovinic said after finishing her workout with Gonzalez. "So today we did a warmup and some crosses and he was very kind to feed some balls from the basket because that's not usually what they are asked to do, but I really kind of feel like I needed that today so he was very kind to do that for me."

How it works

Obviously, not just any schmo off the street can sign up to be a hitting partner. Gonzalez had to prove that he was up for the job.

He said he had to submit a video of himself playing, as well as his current junior tennis rankings. He included recommendations from coaches and, now that he's been doing it for two years, he also has been vouched for by other players.

Then, once he's been approved, he's on a list. It's not unlike being a substitute teacher. When a player needs someone to hit with them, they contact the tournament and the tournament goes to the list to see who's available. Players can also ask for a person on the list by name if they have worked with them before or have heard good things.

"Yeah it's kind of specific who can sign up to be a hitting partner," said Gonzalez, who does not get paid for hitting with the pros but does receive a tournament credential and a food voucher on site. "I love it. I would do it every year if I could. And then once I hit with someone, I usually end up rooting for them."

Chatting with the players

Gonzalez understands that these are high stakes for the players, so he takes the job very seriously. Whatever they ask of him, he will oblige.

When it comes to chatting up the player in a down time or during a break, he sort of reads the situation.

"Depends on how they seem. If they're interactive, I'll ask them some things, but you can also tell if they'd rather be on their own," Gonzalez said.

Kovinic said she enjoyed talking to Gonzalez as they sat on a bench on the side of her practice court during a water break.

"He told me he was going to college (UC Davis) and he wants to try to go professional," Kovinic said. "He was asking what it's like to travel, or if we get tired out there. That's usually what it's like with a sparring partner, especially of a young age is what they ask us. We had a nice talk during our breaks and I'm here for a couple more days so hopefully, I will ask for him again and this time he can do some hitting. "

Of course, another impediment to chit-chat during a hitting session can be a language barrier. The sport of tennis has a bit of a universal language when it comes to explaining what you want a hitting partner to do, but this is a major international event, so Gonzalez, who speaks English and Spanish, said that's been a factor sometimes.

"I was hitting with a Swedish player Mikael Ymer earlier this year, and he didn't speak English, but he had a translator, so I spoke to the translator and I got along with him pretty well," Gonzalez said.

He said he used his Spanish to communicate with Caroline Garcia and her coach. He hit with her last year, and said that's probably the most famous player he's hit with so far. She is currently the No. 5-ranked player in the world.

Different strokes

An hour and a half after working with Kovinic on Practice Court 18, Gonzalez was on Practice Court 5 hitting with Ukrainian player Lesia Tsurenko. This was a much different scenario to his low-stakes hit with Kovinic because this was crunch time.

It was 6 p.m. and Tsurenko was about to play the No. 2-seeded player in the world Aryna Sabalenka at 8 p.m. Tsurenko wanted to fine-tune her serve before the match. She hit serve after serve to Gonzalez, who was asked to hit them back. He did what he was asked, returning almost all of them in play. When he hit one into the net, you could see a disappointed look on his face, knowing that was a moment of imperfection as a hitting partner.

Gonzalez said he tries to cherry-pick and learn different things from everyone he hits with, but also just being out there with the pros gives him a bit of confidence.

"I think it makes me realize how good the high level is," Gonzalez said. "But at the same time when you watch someone on TV it seems like 'Wow, they're hitting it so hard.' But when you play with them and I see I can hang with them pretty well, it gives me some good confidence that I can maybe make it to the next level. I really love everything about this."

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: Hitting with ATP, WTA tennis pros a dream job for Palm Desert High tennis star