The Dutch finding their feet again in world tennis

It was a question most repeated ahead of the 2021 US Open men's quarter-final. Even his opponent, Daniil Medvedev, was at the receiving end of it, until the man himself answered it—how do you pronounce Botic van de Zandschulp?

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It’s tough, the Dutchman acknowledged. But it’s perhaps worth getting used to. Not because he was the only man to take a set off eventual champion Medvedev in New York that year, but there are a few more from that country making a name in elite tennis. Try Tallon Griekspoor. Or Tim van Rijthoven.

Van de Zandschulp, 27, is the No 1 Dutchman ranked 35th in the world. He surged to a peak of 22 last year in which he had a personal best of 38 wins and a maiden ATP final in Munich. With him in the top 100 is 26-year-old Griekspoor, the 2023 ATP Tata Open Maharashtra champion. Currently 95, his maiden ATP title in Pune on Saturday is set to move him up 34 places next week.

Three of their compatriots are in the top 200. Led by van Rijthoven (world No 111)—he stunned Medvedev at the Libema Open last June to become the first Dutchman to win an ATP 250 title since Sjeng Schalken in 2003—there’s also Jelle Sels (133) and Gijs Brouwer (156). Over 100 places below Brouwer lies 35-year-old Robin Haase who, for a large part since the turn of the century, had been the lone ranger for Dutch tennis in men's singles.

“Robin Haase did it really well over the last few years, but it was just him,” Griekspoor said. “Botic then stepped up, I tried to step up, Tim won that title last year.

“We’re a pretty small country. We don't have too many players, we can’t compare ourselves to countries like Spain, Italy. We have one Challenger and two ATP events, which is good but not enough for the young guys.”

Netherlands have had a battery of doubles stars and Grand Slam champions among the men, but 1996 Wimbledon winner Richard Krajicek remains their only singles Slam success story. Although, as 25-year-old van Rijthoven said, budding players in the country still look up to Krajicek, van de Zandschulp has been the new face. His surprise 2021 US Open quarter-final run as a qualifier made him the first Dutchman to reach the last eight of a Slam since 2004.

“I think I was the first one to break through a little bit. The other guys started to believe in themselves and got some nice results,” the world No 35 said.

No better than van Rijthoven’s home title in ‘s-Hertogenbosch as a 205th-ranked pro in only his second ATP Tour tournament. Griekspoor took his six-title 2021 Challenger show a level up in 2022 by raking up 17 wins on the ATP Tour and breaking into the top 50. Together, they helped the Netherlands earn a spot in the Davis Cup Finals knockouts last season.

“Botic inspired us by going to the quarters of the US Open. I had a great Challenger run straight after, and now some more guys are following us in the 100s-200s. I feel we have a really good group of guys who can do some good damage on the ATP Tour,” Griekspoor said, keeping his word by kicking off this season with the Pune title.

The key term here is “group of guys”. Griekspoor and van de Zandschulp spent the entire pre-season training together at home. The Royal Dutch Lawn Tennis Association in Amsterdam is their base. The others also often join in when not travelling. That's where having a proper bunch outvalues the one standout star for a tennis nation.

“The other guys beat us in practice sometimes, so they feel like if they can do it, so can we,” Griekspoor said. “It's not like we are next level — we just try to work hard and do things as good as possible. The young guys see that and try to follow us.

“It's tough when there's only 1-2 players and you need to figure things out yourself. This way we help each other and it looks like this is the right way for us. This is also how it goes in Italy (which has 5 top-100 players) and Spain (10). It’s always good to have players close or near you to see and try to inspire each other and get better.”

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