After his stunt at Roland Garros, Tallon Valentijn was mainly concerned with the conclusion of the Formula 1 race in Spain. The North Hollander, who surprised Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Sunday, immediately wanted to know whether Max Verstappen had won.
“When I took to the track he was fifth and my first question to my coaches after my game was: did Max win?” said Greek track after his victory over 25th seed Davidovich Fokina (2-6, 6-0, 6). -4 and 6-3) in the first round of Roland Garros.
“My coaches actually went a bit crazy and said that I should enjoy myself for once. But I was so busy with Max. And Charles Leclerc dropped out, so it was a beautiful day.”
Greek track won a match in the main tournament of Roland Garros for the first time in his career. “It didn’t feel that way, because it’s not that the debut came unexpectedly. I just didn’t play great here in the past,” said the number 64 in the world, who defeated American Brandon Nakashima (ATP-ATP) in the second round. 74) or the Pole hits Kamil Majchrzak (ATP-81).
“It is difficult to say whether it is my most beautiful victory, because the one at the US Open was also beautiful,” he referred to his victory over Jan-Lennard Struff in New York last year. “But he (Davidovich Fokina, ed.) is good on clay, reached the quarter-finals here last year and was a finalist in Monte Carlo. So I’m very happy with this victory, especially because I’ve had a lot of uncertainty due to injuries in recent weeks and almost didn’t get to train.”
Botic van de Zandschulp beat the Russian Pavel Kotov.
Botic van de Zandschulp beat the Russian Pavel Kotov. Photo: EPA
Van de Zandschulp: ‘Would be nice if I met Nadal’
Botic van de Zandschulp also reached the second round in Paris at the expense of Russian qualifier Pavel Kotov (6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and 6-2). The number 26 of the most qualified does not look too far ahead after his victory in the first round of Roland Garros. In the third round, thirteen-time Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal may be his opponent.
“It would be nice if it could eventually be the case, but first I have a tough task ahead of me against Fabio Fognini on Wednesday,” said Van de Zandschulp. “When I was a little lower in the ranking, I always thought Fognini was a nice player. He has an incredible amount of talent, but the question is also what his cap is like. I think he can do everything. He has really good groundstrokes, but he may serve a little less. There may be opportunities there.”
Van de Zandschulp had a hard time against Kotov for three sets, but he finished convincingly in the fourth set. “I thought he started very well and gave almost no presents and served strongly. I didn’t really know what to expect and it took a bit of searching. I also experienced maybe a little more pressure than at previous Grand Slams, because I am now qualified. But luckily I took my chances in the third and fourth set.”