By Luke Voogt
Jonathan Zarb recorded Novak Djokovic’s every serve, fault and shot as he triumphed over Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open men’s final.
The 20-year-old central Geelong physiotherapy student was one of two scorers in his first time scoring the men’s final in nine years at the Grand Slam.
“It was unbelievable,” he told the Independent from the Adelaide International this week.
“I was quite nervous to begin with because I realised millions of people would be watching. But after a few games that disappeared.
“Novak was so focussed – he was mentally peaking. He never looked like losing.”
Sunday night was not Jonathan’s first involvement in the big event; in 2015 he was a ball boy in Djokovic’s four-set championship win over Andy Murray.
Jonathan started as a ball boy at age 12, and in his fifth and final year came across a group of statisticians playing table tennis, and applied for the job.
“I loved the Australian Open so much and I still wanted to be involved,” he said.
“I was lucky to get straight in.”
Now Jonathan, who plays at Centre Court in North Geelong, gets to travel across Australia a few weeks each summer to score at international tournaments.
“We use a live computer system that sends statistics to the broadcast team and across the world,” he said.
Jonathan enjoys watching the world’s best in action but warns “you have to be focussed” at “all times.”
He hopes to one day score at Wimbledon and the Olympics.
“I can’t put it in words how much I love it. I wish I could do it all year,’ he said.
