The Top 20 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin is littered with some of the biggest stars in tennis, from Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev to former Nitto ATP Finals champions like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov.
One player in the elite group who might be unfamiliar to some fans is 18th-placed Tallon Griekspoor of The Netherlands. A finalist last week at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, an ATP 500 event, the Dutchman is soaring higher than ever.
“That feels great. That’s something really nice. If you look around the names around you in the ranking, those are big names,” Griekspoor told ATPTour.com. “Those are the names you want to play with, play against every week. So yeah, that’s something great.”
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At the end of the 2022 season, Griekspoor, then No. 96 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, was most concerned with gaining entry into the main draw of the Australian Open. He was prepared to play an ATP Challenger Tour event at the end of the year to secure his spot if necessary.
But instead, Griekspoor began the new season by flying to Pune, India. Entering the tournament, he had never advanced to a tour-level semi-final and had lost seven of his past eight matches. The Dutchman stormed to the title with the loss of just one set, setting the tone for 2023.
“You have a good preseason, you go to Pune, and six days later, you lift the trophy there of an ATP, and all of a sudden the season looks a lot different and brighter for the whole year. It gave me such a big confidence there,” Griekspoor said. “To be able to win an ATP gave me a lot of confidence and I think I showed that in the weeks after. I would definitely say Pune helped me a lot achieving the things I’ve achieved now.”
Griekspoor made the third round of the Australian Open and maintained his momentum by advancing to his first ATP 500 semi-final on home soil in Rotterdam, a performance that confirmed for the Dutchman that his early-season form was more than just a solid stretch. His first five defeats of the year came to top players in Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
“We’re seven months in now [and] I’ve won two ATPs, I played a final in a 500. Being close to the Top 20 in the world, I didn’t expect these kinds of things,” said Griekspoor, who claimed his second tour-level crown on home soil in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. “But at the same time, I always believed in working hard and hard work pays off. And it somehow all comes together this year. It’s clicking and I’m enjoying it a lot so far.”
Watch Highlights Of Griekspoor’s ‘s-Hertogenbosch Victory:
Two years ago, Griekspoor set the record for most ATP Challenger Tour titles in a season with eight. In his first full season at tour-level, he tallied a 17-25 record in 2022. But this year, he is 27-13 and full of confidence.
“I think the belief is there. The belief is there every match,” Griekspoor said. “I’m serving a lot better than I used to. The serve is helping me a lot, especially against tough opponents. If you can lean on the serve a little bit, sometimes it’s nice. So yeah, I would say the serve is the biggest thing.”
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According to Infosys ATP Stats, Griekspoor has made improvements in all major serving statistics in 2023. Most notably, he ranks eighth on the ATP Tour in service games won at more than 86 per cent, placing him ahead of Christopher Eubanks, Jannik Sinner, Holger Rune and Andrey Rublev among others. There were no changes in technique, just hard work on the practice court and steady improvement.
On Monday afternoon, Griekspoor did pre-tournament interviews at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto, something that will only become more common the more the Dutchman sustains his performance. But the 27-year-old is not allowing the success to get to him.
“I’m the same guy in front of the TV as I am in the locker room… I don’t think there are many secrets about me,” Griekspoor said. “If I think something about you, I will tell you. So yeah, I don’t think I have many secrets. It’s just what you see is what you get.”
Griekspoor will try to continue his surge up the Live Race when he plays two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion Zverev in the Toronto first round.
“If you can play finals, if you play for trophies on the weekend, it motivates you a lot. It’s something I enjoy, playing those kind of matches. It’s something you work for,” Griekspoor said. “And if you get paid off by playing finals, that’s special and it keeps you motivated to work even harder and keep going. I’m motivated more than ever.”