[Chris Kuerten]

Suzanne Schulting won a lot as well

Let's hope she'll still be the same after that nasty cut on her back

 

[Joe Speedboot]

Video Player | AO

ausopen.com

And de Jong is in bitches!!! Two tiebreaks clutched out which is great for mental fortitude. We have three dutch players in the draw. Nice to see in the video how much it means to him also.

 

[Joe Speedboot]

De Jong will play Pedro Cachin. Current nr 75 and decent player. But more solid on clay. So there's a chance. Round 2 could be Botic vs de Jong. Will the tennis gods be so nice to us early on?

 

[Matthieu]

De Jong will play Pedro Cachin. Current nr 75 and decent player. But more solid on clay. So there's a chance. Round 2 could be Botic vs de Jong. Will the tennis gods be so nice to us early on?

come on let’s get behind Jimmy de Jong for real 😈Cachin is a CLAY PUSHER MUG! 😈

 

[Joe Speedboot]

Can you believe it. Dutch Botic will open CC this year at the Australian open. Always nice to put some more pressure on the shoulders of this mental giant. Am I too pessimistic to say anything but a straight set loss will be a win?

And then on court 17 we have the second match being de jong vs Cachin. I'm surprisingly optimistic for this one. With some luck he sneaks through and we have something to celebrate day one. Nerves will play a big role here. I read somewhere that he got a tattoo to honor his grandfather. As it was their dream for him to play at a slam.

 

[Litotes]

Can you believe it. Dutch Botic will open CC this year at the Australian open. Always nice to put some more pressure on the shoulders of this mental giant. Am I too pessimistic to say anything but a straight set loss will be a win?

I can, considering the opponent. I don't think he'd be expected to take a set in any tournament on any court.

 

[Joe Speedboot]

I can, considering the opponent. I don't think he'd be expected to take a set in any tournament on any court.

Yep, expecting a 6-4 6-3 6-4 win for Sinner here.

 

[jovanmilic97]

Until Thijs Boogaard matures all we Dutch can do in this thread is sit out time I fear but lets see what 2024 brings us.

What about Mees Rottgering? 16yo sitting at #35 in juniors as of now. Would be nice if there's another young hope to follow besides Boogaard.

 

[Joe Speedboot]

What about Mees Rottgering? 16yo sitting at #35 in juniors as of now. Would be nice if there's another young hope to follow besides Boogaard.

To be fair I don't know too much of him. Maybe @Chris Kuerten knows? I think his knowledge of our prospects is way better than mine. I'm really only on the Thijs hype train.

 

[Joe Speedboot]

Lets see what Botic can do with his new coach Johan Örtegren. Don't know much about him besides that he once worked with Dimitrov. Botic himself said he hopes he can stay fit the whole year.

 

[Joe Speedboot]

The first day went precisely as I thought it would. Botic had no chance. Can't really blame him for anything. Guy had a nightmare draw. To be honest I don't really expect anything from him this year. So everything will be a bonus. I just can't get myself to think he enjoys tennis. I wonder if he will say the same as Kiki once he's done. Hopefully he can surprise us in Rotterdam, that would be nice.

De Jong on the other hand is already a great story this year. I'm so happy for him. If you ever go to smaller tournaments you know the struggle these players in the top 1000 go through. It's a lonely life. And this can be just the boost he needs. Both financially and ranking wise. He has nothing to lose against Sinner so I hope he goes all out. Playing safe/passive and still going out would be wrong.

Onto Griekspoor and the doubles it us. Plus I'll illegally sneak in a Rus update here tomorrow

 

[alberto_ss]

Rottgering beats junior world number 1 Federico Cinà for the second time in a row. Concerned by Boogaard’s injury. Stalling at such a young age for half an year is terrible.

 

[Joe Speedboot]

Rottgering beats junior world number 1 Federico Cinà for the second time in a row. Concerned by Boogaard’s injury. Stalling at such a young age for half an year is terrible.

He beat him today? I know he beat him in straights last year at Wimbledon. That would be a great result again. We will see further if Boogaard his body is up for professional tennis. The jump from juniors to pro tour is so big. It's almost a different game.

 

[Matthieu]

Guy den Ouden qualifies for Tenerife 100 beating Al Vatutin and Augie Holmgren

gets Tony Escoffier R1 !

 

[Joe Speedboot]

So today we have two interesting matches coming up. First it is Griekspoor who takes on Safiullin on court 7. Tallon really needs to win this as he hast a third round to defend. But it is a tricky opponent from what I heard. Still I'm hoping in a four set victory.

Then we have the legend Robin Haase playing doubles with Bhambri on court 12. I have no idea how good Barientos/Matos are togheter so here's hoping the best. It would be cool if Haase can build on the great Dutch legacy in doubles tennis.

Also little shout out to Aranxta Rus. She's in a second round of a slam for the first time since 2020 AO. And with a smashing 6-1 6-0.

 

[Joe Speedboot]

The matches are done and the dust has settled. And what a dust indeed. A day of absolutes when it comes to my heart strings.

Lets begin with the positive. Griekspoor doing something I never thought he would do. The only reason I even kept watching is because I was too bored to get up. I was so frustrated with his play. But thankfully Safiullin isn't a real mental monster himself. The match wasn't good. Also not when Tallon started his comeback and the fifth was pretty ugly at times. A real example of two players slugging it through. But I was rooting all the way by then. I hope griekspoor isn't gassed or minor hurt after this. He didn't look good. But it must be a relief that he dug it out. So not Dutch like in tennis. Great win in the end.

And then we have the Haase/Bahmbri doubles match. Well they won the first set 6-1. You want to know what happened after, you look it up yourself. I'm not typing that out here.

 

[POTUS Haase]

The matches are done and the dust has settled. And what a dust indeed. A day of absolutes when it comes to my heart strings.

Lets begin with the positive. Griekspoor doing something I never thought he would do. The only reason I even kept watching is because I was too bored to get up. I was so frustrated with his play. But thankfully Safiullin isn't a real mental monster himself. The match wasn't good. Also not when Tallon started his comeback and the fifth was pretty ugly at times. A real example of two players slugging it through. But I was rooting all the way by then. I hope griekspoor isn't gassed or minor hurt after this. He didn't look good. But it must be a relief that he dug it out. So not Dutch like in tennis. Great win in the end.

And then we have the Haase/Bahmbri doubles match. Well they won the first set 6-1. You want to know what happened after, you look it up yourself. I'm not typing that out here.

I watched the final set of Bhambri/Haase.

They were flawless on serve, got triple matchpoint on the Barrientos serve, couldn't make a return, then in the tiebreak Haase held all his service points but Bhambri served crap, including a double fault on matchpoint. Usually lately it was Haase who ruined it in deciding tiebreaks but this time he did nothing wrong, his partner was bad. Bhambri looks like he's chronically injured or something, he just can't inject pace in his serve.

 

[Joe Speedboot]

I watched the final set of Bhambri/Haase.

They were flawless on serve, got triple matchpoint on the Barrientos serve, couldn't make a return, then in the tiebreak Haase held all his service points but Bhambri served crap, including a double fault on matchpoint. Usually lately it was Haase who ruined it in deciding tiebreaks but this time he did nothing wrong, his partner was bad. Bhambri looks like he's chronically injured or something, he just can't inject pace in his serve.

I was so painfull to see it unfold. Bhambri dropped the ball hard on this one indeed. But I hope they keep playing togheter. I like them as a team. And you are right to say that Haase also has had his faults. You win some, you loose some. But this one was a bitch. Tennis can be so frustrating to watch at times.

But on the bright side we have two guys in the second round of the opening slam. (And rus on the women's side). I'll call that a promising start to 2024. As beggars can't be chosers.

 

[Joe Speedboot]

Well that wasn't the best day to say it mildly.

Sinner def de Jong 6-2 6-2 6-2
Ram/Salisbury def Middelkoop/Melo 7-6 7-5
Gonzalez/Skupski def Botic/McDonald 7-6 7-1

The only bandage for the bleeding:
Glasspool/Rojer defeating Griekspoor/Stevens 7-6 6-2, but even there the complete Dutch team lost.

Today proved once again that watching tennis at the highest level as a Dutch fanatic is all about love for the game nine days out of ten.

(In football I support Feyenoord so I can hand suffering and shattered expectations like the best though)

 

[Joe Speedboot]