(Left) Mhieslhouto of Nagaland and Khamgailung of Manipur in New Delhi on Monday. (PTI)

New Delhi, Sept. 23: Mhieslhouto, son of a businessman in Nagaland and Khamgailung, born to an assistant teacher in Manipur, are thrilled at the prospect of living their dreams — that of catching a glimpse of their heroes — Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal — in person.

The two, adopted by the National Tennis Academy, are among eight Asian children who will fly to Melbourne to be part of the first Grand Slam of the next year as ballkids.

Mhieslhouto and Khamgailung were adopted by the NTA under an All India Tennis Association initiative for northeastern children, to provide them with an opportunity to train and become India’s future tennis players. The 20 children from the Northeast, selected nearly two years ago, now slug it out on the NTA courts everyday, apart from pursuing academics.

The children, coming from humble backgrounds, impressed the Open officials with their agility, speed, reflexes and presence of mind.

Mhieslhouto, 13-year-old and a student of Class VIII at the National School in Gurgaon, is excited that he will see his hero — Djokovic — very soon.

“I am very happy that I have been selected. I just cannot wait to see Djokovic. I love watching him play. He is the best and I want to become like him,” Mhieslhouto said. “I practise for six hours at the NTA and want to represent India as a tennis player at the global level.”

Asa Khate, who trained Mhieslhouto before he was admitted to the NTA, is delighted. It will be a great classroom for him,” Khate told The Telegraph over phone from Dimapur.

Twelve-year-old Khamgailung, a Class VI student with Lord Krishna International School in Gurgaon, said he regularly watched Nadal’s matches.

“I like Nadal for his top-spin shots. I have seen his matches, now I want to see him in person,” he said.

“This is a great piece of news for the people of Manipur. We hope he does Manipuris proud. We also hope that some day he will compete with other international players in the Australian Open and other international tournaments,” Manipur sports minister N. Biren Singh said on Khamgailung’s selection as a ballboy.

Asked if they miss their family back home, both Mhieslhouto and Khamgailung said, a “little bit” and insisted they wanted to stay at the NTA only so that they can become tennis players in the future.

Beside the two, Shashank Nautiyal and Sayesha Dalal have also been selected by the Open officials, led by tournament director Craige Tiley on Sunday from among 500 children, who appeared in the trials in the national capital.

“This is the second time that NTA children have been selected as ballkids. Last year Prabhakar Shadrack, a tsunami-affected child from Nicobar, was selected,” said J.S. Duggal, principal of the NTA.

“I am thrilled and confident that the NTA residents are going to perform well. They are very disciplined, agile and hard working,” Duggal added.