He played in front of the world in the quarter-finals of the US Open and reached the third round at the Australian Open early this year. But never before has Botic van de Zandschulp felt so much tension as before the Davis Cup match against Canada in the Sports Campus in The Hague.
The more than a thousand frenzied Dutch fans who populated the stands last weekend made more of an impression than the millions of TV viewers during the US Open. “I’m not used to this, this was more like a football atmosphere,” said the leader of the Dutch team after the simple victory (4-0) over a weakened Canada. It was the first time since 2017 that the Dutch Davis Cup team played a match in its own country.
Group stage placement
With the win, the Netherlands qualified for the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals, which will take place in September, for the second time in history after 2019. The best sixteen countries participate in this. Eight countries will qualify for the finals at the end of the year. “We don’t just want to be there, we also want to survive the group stage now,” said captain Paul Haarhuis.
The Davis Cup remains a special phenomenon in tennis. Where the public is mainly asked for silence at grand slam tournaments and applause is heard after a point, the mood in the stands during the Nations Cup is exuberant. The Dutch tennis players were constantly sung to and drums and horns sounded between the points. ‘Everyone is here for you, that is different at major tournaments. Then the public is more neutral’, said Van de Zandschulp.
The world’s number 48, in his own words, enjoyed the atmosphere, but in his win (7-5, 7-6) against the relatively unknown Alexis Galarneau (world number 332) also visibly struggled with the circumstances. “I had to find my way to deal with it. I tried to shut it down and keep doing my thing,” said the 26-year-old tennis player who played a Davis Cup game in his own country for the first time.
Canada cancellations
The national tournament may be something special for many tennis players, but it is still regarded significantly lower than the individual schedule of the players. For example, Canada entered without the toppers Felix Auger-Aliassime (ninth in the world ranking) and Denis Shapovalov (number thirteen in the world). They did not feel much like playing on clay in The Hague, also because they will participate in the masters tournaments on the hard courts of Miami and Indian Wells in the coming weeks.
“Those two boys are already so far in their careers and have already achieved so much with their country,” Talloniaanse said, referring to the ATP Cup that the top duo won with Canada earlier this year. The number 54 of the world ranking felt the same tension as Van de Zandschulp during his win (6-4, 6-4) against the lower-rated Steven Diez (number 294 in the world). “This is somewhat new to us. We like to be called up, we like to come together as a team.’
With Van de Zandschulp and Greekpoor, the Netherlands has two global sub-toppers in tennis. Together with doubles specialists Matwé Middelkoop and Wesley Koolhof, who won their doubles match, and reserve Robin Haase, captain Haarhuis thinks he has an all-round team. ‘Everyone has developed well individually. I think we have a serious chance in the group stage of the Finals, although you always have to be a bit lucky against which countries you loot and which players are participating.”
Not out and at home
Either way, that has to happen with less support from the orange-clad fans in the stands. Since the new Davis Cup format, the final phase of the country tournament is held in pre-selected host cities. The concept with home and away matches, which gave the duels extra charm, has been canceled due to the crowded tennis agenda.
‘The host cities are not yet known, but I can imagine that the four Grand Slam countries will make a bid. I don’t think the Netherlands has the budgets to bring the Finals here,” said Haarhuis. And Greek track: ‘You have people with money, they buy the competition and turn it into their own tournament. That’s just how it works, but I would have loved to play home and away.’
Haarhuis looked back with a good feeling on the first Davis Cup match in his own country in four years. “We were the favourites, so the pressure was on us. Next time, when these guys play at home, they’ve already been through this once. That is important, to be able to grow.’
And Greek track: ‘It was a wonderful weekend with a great victory in front of the home crowd.’