Since several members of the Groningen student tennis association GSTC visited a Davis Cup match in Mexico in 1989, every match in the Netherlands has been a big party.
This weekend – which started on Friday for students – members of various associations will be arriving in Martiniplaza. For tennis and beer, the two most important side issues in the students’ lives.
When Tallon Greek Spoor makes a break in the second game during the first Davis Cup match against the Swiss Marc-Andrea Hüsler, the students shout out. Greekpoor looks at it with a small smile. This was the reason why he wanted to play at Martiniplaza in Groningen again, that crazy audience. Last year he praised the Groningen fans; he had never experienced a better atmosphere anywhere.
It is mainly thanks to the members of the Groningen student tennis clubs TAM, Veracket and GSTC. Dressed up in the most wonderful outfits, from ball suits to orange dressing gowns.
Ladies with flower hats
Yet it is not only students present on Friday afternoon. Among the youngsters who choose the plush chairs of Martiniplaza over the lecture desks on this day, two older ladies with matching orange flower hats are sitting, nibbling on a piece of chocolate brought from home. They wave an orange flag enthusiastically when Greek Spoor makes its break at the start of the first set. They cheer, but they don’t rise above the students.
Great Migration
The fact that the students did not just go to Martiniplaza for tennis is evident from the players’ side changes. At those moments, the audience is given one minute to leave their seats. Every two games a great migration takes place, reminiscent of the wildebeest in the Serengeti. Students rush to the bar and return at the next side change with a full glass of beer in both hands. The students who are then ’empty’, in turn, look for a spot at the watering hole. The only thing missing is David Attenborough’s calm commentary.
One of the many students who frequents the bar during the party is Shanna. She is a member of the Davis Cup committee of GSTC, the oldest student tennis association in the Netherlands and the instigator of the Davis Cup craze in the Netherlands 35 years ago. Greek Spoor has just won the first set in a tiebreak thanks to the frenzied fans.
Special song
Back in the stands she screams her lungs out. Her committee has come up with a special song for Greek Spoor. “Ohh Tallon Greekpoor lalala,” she sings, to the sounds of Les Champs-Elysees . “That was it. We have a different song for every player.” Greek track is the favorite player among the students. If only because he went on a pub crawl with the fans last year after winning against Slovakia. “But I don’t think the tennis association will allow him to come this time. “He then sprained his ankle in the pub,” she chuckles, after which she screams and celebrates a Greek track point. She’s the only one. The ball was out of bounds. “Oops, sometimes I’m a little too enthusiastic,” she apologizes.
‘Griekspoor, nice boy, bad drinker’
Shanna is sitting in the stands next to Julian, the president of GSTC. He was also there when Tallon injured himself in the cafe. “Nice boy, not a good drinker. Those top athletes are often unable to do that,” he says in a hoarse voice, as only students can have.
During the second set of Greek Spoor, Julian wears a jacket covered in tennis balls and stiff from all the beer that has ever been poured over it. “He is carried by someone else every turn. It is quite a heavy thing,” he says. The jacket has already been through a lot. After members of GSTC attended the Dutch Davis Cup match in Mexico in 1989, the tournament’s popularity among Dutch fans took off. In 1993 in Spain, during the sensational victory of the Netherlands, a member of GSTC wore a similar jacket. “But he died. This is his successor,” says Julian.
Huge honor
The president jumps up after every point of Greek track. “The interaction with Tallon is great. He often looks in our direction for support and whips us up. The Davis Cup is a highlight every year for our association. It is a huge honor that the players really wanted to come to Groningen again after last year. I didn’t want to miss this. I actually have an exam today, but I’m going to skip it. How often do you experience this now?”
If Greek Spoor also wins the second set in a tiebreak, some of the students will return to the bar. Botic van de Zandschulp still has to take action. “After that match we will go to our favorite pub,” says Julian. Then Saturday, filled with three games, still has to come. “We’re going to make it,” he sounds hoarse, but confident.