by Dino DelGaudio
(Lynbrook, New York)
I was a ballboy at the US Open in Forest Hills during my high school years. Once between matches with some time on our hands, a fellow ballboy (Sam Sutter) and I went out on the peripheral HarTru courts to hit a few balls. We quickly took notice of this "blonde-haired kid" and introduced ourselves to him. It wasn't long until we were on the court hitting with Vitas. Following this meeting, I would occasionally run into Vitas when we both were playing in Eastern Lawn Tennis Association regional tournaments. Once, when playing in a tournament at Sterling Tennis courts near Flushing Meadow (before National Tennis Center),Vitas asked me to warm-up with him saying, "Let's go out and show-off a little."
He genuinely seemed like a good guy and certainly was a great player with his flamboyant style that was signature Vitas!