By Gabriella Payne
Tennis fans and spectators were all smiles after Naomi Osaka took out the top prize at the recent Australian Open, but perhaps none more so than local schoolgirl Marlé van der Merwe, whose winning smile was captured in a photograph with the tennis champion and has since gone viral around the world.
While reflecting on her win, Ms Osaka, the two time Australian Open winner, was flicking through some photographs when she noticed Ms van der Merwe on the sidelines.
In a post that’s now gone viral, Ms Osaka tweeted “was looking at pics from AO and I just noticed the ball girl in this,” alongside some loving and waving emojis with the word “hi”.
With now over 76,000 likes and more than 5,000 comments, Ms van der Merwe’s photograph was shared around the world, with many noting her smile and clear admiration for the tennis star.
When the 16-year-old Berwick College student found out about the post and Ms Osaka’s shout out to her, she told the Gazette that she was completely shocked.
“I was very surprised and I just couldn’t believe it,” Ms van der Merwe said.
While she wasn’t allowed to talk to Ms Osaka during or after the match, she said it was really “cool” that the tennis star had noticed her in the photo and said “hi” online.
“We’re not allowed to talk to them [the tennis players] or anything as a ball kid,” she said.
“But it’s cool that she said hi to me and it was a great experience.”
Ms van der Merwe, an Officer local, said that although she didn’t play tennis herself, she loved volunteering at the Australian Open and had been involved as a ball girl for the last five years.
“It’s an experience you’ll never forget,” she said.
“You make so many friends and you obviously get to go up close to the players.”
Ms van der Merwe said that her friends at school all thought it was “really cool” that the photo of her and Ms Osaka had gone viral, and she was excited to get back courtside next Australian Open.
