The team of captain Paul Haarhuis has now secured a place for the Davis Cup Finals, which start in September, thanks to the simple victory over the weakened Canadians. A win was already expected in advance.
Canada entered The Hague without Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, respectively the number 9 and 13 in the world. They chose not to participate in view of the major hard court tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. Greek track and Van de Zandschulp are also there.
On Friday, the Canadians’ resistance in the singles was stronger than expected, although both Van de Zandschulp and Greek track did not have to hand in a set. Koolhof and Middelkoop also remained without a set loss. Despite five break points, the pair failed to take a quick break lead, but struck at the end of the first set.
Paul Haarhuis coaches the two.
Ⓒ ANP/HH
In the second set, the Dutch double immediately broke the service of the two opponents. This to the delight of the public, who have also returned to the Davis Cup. The Orange squad was allowed to complete a Davis Cup game in its own country for the first time since 2017. At the time, the Czech Republic was defeated.
Middelkoop and Koolhof formed a strong couple on the ATP Tour years ago, but decided not to continue together in the summer of 2017. During the previous Davis Cup meeting with Uruguay, they played together for the first time in years. Even then, the two specialists won.
Middelkoop recently won the ABN AMRO tournament alongside Robin Haase. The almost 35-year-old from The Hague with a great track record in the country tournament had to settle for a reserve role this time. Haarhuis called the availability of three strong doubles a ‘luxury problem’.
To trust
Confidence in the Dutch team is high after the win over Canada. “I think we can take out the biggest countries. Those are big words, but I do believe in them,” said Middelkoop after the convincing victory over Canada. „We relied on Robin Haase for a long time, but for the singles we have now really created two permanent values - with Tallon groenpoor and Botic van de Zandschulp. And Wesley is doing very well, I am doing well and so is Jean-Julien Rojer. We are in such a phase now.”
Koolhof already won three titles in doubles this year and Middelkoop won the doubles at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament last month with Robin Haase. Middelkoop: “The more guys who do well, the better. I really believe that is being sucked up by others. We are lucky to have such a class.”
In 2019, the Netherlands also participated in the final tournament of the Davis Cup, which took place in Madrid at the time, but Middelkoop was not there to participate in the tournament, which Koolhof compares with a World Cup. “I had played all the meetings before that,” says Middelkoop. „If you have a big tournament in sight and you are not in it, then that is a disappointment. But that is precisely the beauty and at the same time the hard part of sport. That also made me realize that I had to work even harder to knock one of those guys out, so to speak.”