Thiemo de Bakker #9 - Op naar de top 20

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Op donderdag 12 augustus 2010 14:09 schreef F.M.D. het volgende:
leuke column, alleen vind ik zijn voorspelling niet realistisch.

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Op zaterdag 14 augustus 2010 00:29 schreef F.M.D. het volgende:
De Bakker heeft in de 1e ronde van Cincinati Juan Monaco geloot. Daarna wellicht Roddick, wat dan voor de 3de keer zou zijn dit jaar.

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Op zaterdag 14 augustus 2010 12:32 schreef Tim86 het volgende:
Jawel..het is geen toeval dat Roddick ziek is en Querrey er bijna direct uit ligt in de enige compulsory die niet in de USA is de komende tijd

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CINCINNATI--Few players have risen to the upper echelons of the men's game as rapidly as Thiemo de Bakker. The 21 year-old Dutchman was ranked outside the top 200 in August of 2009, but in the past year has made his way firmly into the Top 50, peaking at #40 in July, slipping slightly to his current ranking of #50 this week.

Though he was the top junior in the world in 2006, de Bakker is perhaps best known to most casual tennis fans as the player who beat John Isner in the second round of Wimbledon this year, beating him quickly the day after Isner's marathon 70-68 fifth set against Nicolas Mahut ended.

Playing in Cincinnati for the first time, de Bakker notched a 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 win over ATP #31 Juan Monaco, putting him into a second round match-up against the winner of tonight's match between ninth-seeded Andy Roddick and Sergiy Stakhovsky.

Shortly after his win over Monaco, I sat down with Thiemo to talk about his win today, Dutch tennis, making the transition from juniors to the ATP, and Wimbledon.

TDF: You had sort of a tough time closing out the second set, serving up 5-4 in the tiebreak and then losing both points on your serve. What do you think happened?

Thiemo de Bakker: In the beginning I was 5-2 down in the set, so...I think I fought back well, took the momentum, played a good breaker. I had a chance at 3-1, did the right thing, but missed it. And at 4-2 too defensive on that point. Then at 5-4 up, yeah, I went a little bit defensive, and he took his chances and went for it. Yeah, I had to go there a little bit more, but I didn't. But I think I came back well in the third and played a good third set.

TDF: Against a player like Monaco who is more defensive, do you think it forces you to be more aggressive than usual?

Thiemo de Bakker: Actually I think today he was more offensive than me. I was running more than him. I should have, but I didn't do it. Maybe it would have helped me to be a little bit more aggressive, but he's a tough player, and a good competitor, so it's tough.

TDF: You could play Andy Roddick in the next round, who you played twice this year already, and lost to both times [Australian Open and Miami]. What do you think you have to do differently to beat him here? He also recently said that he's been dealing with mono, does that give you a better chance to beat him, do you think?

Thiemo de Bakker: He's a great player. Twice he beat me pretty easy. He's tough. He doesn't miss a lot of balls, he serves well, and decent from the back, so I have to be really sharp. By the way, I think that if he starts at a tournament, he's probably fit. He's not going to play when he's not 100% fit, so he'll be fighting. First he has to win today, but yeah. I think if I serve well, and play well, and get a lot of returns back, I have a chance, but it will be tough.

TDF: I noticed during your match today that you were always rolling up your right sleeve. Did you ever think about wearing sleeveless shirts?

Thiemo de Bakker: Nah, I hate sleeveless shirts, actually (laughs). I really don't feel comfortable in them. In a way it's more a habit than anything. I usually do it when it's more hot and humid. It's just a habit, because if I hit one ball it usually goes back again.

TDF: Tennis players from The Netherlands have been doing well recently. You're into the Top 50, and guys like Robin Haase, Jesse Huta Galung and Igor Sijsling have been playing well and getting near the Top 100 doing well after there was a long time where there were no Dutch players in the Top 100. Why do you think that is?

Thiemo de Bakker: I think we were really spoiled, with four or five guys in the top thirty. We're a pretty small country, not like The States or France which are pretty big. I mean, if we can get two or three guys in the Top 100, I think we're doing really well. We're all young. The age difference between the guys who stopped and us is pretty big. There was a pretty big gap. I'm 21. I don't know what the average age in the Top 100 is, but I think I'm doing pretty well. Robin [Haase] got injured when he was in the Top 100, so... We have a few guys who can make it, but they still need to improve a lot and get more consistent. Then we'll probably be able to get three or four guys in the top 100, and that will be awesome.

TDF: It seems like The Netherlands is doing really well in sports generally right now. Making it to the finals of the World Cup, swimming, and speed skating as well. Why do you think such a relatively small country, like you said, is able to have so much success in so many sports?

Thiemo de Bakker: I think in football we have some great players throughout the world playing. They're good players, they did really well, unlucky they lost the final, but, it happens. And speed skating, I think we have the best speed skaters in the world, by far. I don't know actually why. Speed skating, they do it a lot in Holland, it's a big sport in Holland.

TDF: The first time I ever saw you play was in Davis Cup last year against France, where you beat Gael Monfils in Holland, with all the crowd in orange. What was that like, playing for The Netherlands in front of that big crowd and getting the win?

Thiemo de Bakker: I think Davis Cup is always fun, especially in Holland when the crowd is for you. I think it's always a good atmosphere. They're good also for the opponents. Not terrible--it's pretty fair, I think. So it's fun, I like those matches. I was playing well at that time, I had just won four challengers, so I had a lot of confidence. Also on the other days I played pretty well. I had my chances against Tsonga on Sunday, but lost in a tough four-setter. I served well, and it was my first, well he was not quite top ten, but he was a good player, and it was a good win for me.

TDF: You were the #1 junior in the world, and you won Junior Wimbledon. You've had a pretty successful transition to the ATP, had success and rising up pretty fast, whereas some players at the top of the junior game never have quite as much success in the ATP. What do you think has been able to help you make the transition better than some?

Thiemo de Bakker: It took me a while. I had some big problems in the beginning. My problem was that in the juniors, I never had to work for it. So I was, not lazy, because in matches I was working, but I didn't do the things outside, I didn't work hard in practice. I just saw [tennis] as a fun thing to do, and I was actually good at it. But then I came to a point where I had to work, because otherwise I'm not going to win. During that period I still went up on the rankings, but it could have gone faster. It made me what I am now, and I started playing well at the end of last year. In the last six months of the year I started to win challengers, and then it went really fast. This year in the ATP I think I'm pretty solid, didn't lose a lot of first round matches. But I think to make the next steps, I think I have to start to beat the big guys.

TDF: Is there any one thing, any one part of your game you think you have to improve to make that next step?

Thiemo de Bakker: I think I have to get more consistent. In my total game, there isn't one thing which is really terrible, or one thing which needs to improve a lot. It's more the complete game, it has to get more consistent to beat those guys.

TDF: You won Junior Wimbledon, as I said earlier, and you made it to the third round there this year of the main draw. Do you think grass is the surface that best suits your game?

Thiemo de Bakker: I didn't feel comfortable on grass this year, at all (laughs). I was serving well, but I really had problems moving. But I think in the future I could be really dangerous on grass. I have a good serve, I just have to get used to the running, and to the returns. If I can improve that, I think I could be a tough guy to beat on grass.

TDF: You played a match that got a lot of attention in the second round of Wimbledon, against John Isner who had just played that match against Nicolas Mahut. What was it like for you waiting to see who would win that? Obviously you had a different perspective on that match than anyone else.

Thiemo de Bakker: I had a tough first round too, I was 16-14 in the fifth, but it wasn't as tough as they had (laughs). I think we're never going to see that anymore. It was pretty sick, and for me it came out well in the second round, because he wasn't the guy who he normally is. So for me it was good, and I had an easy round. I think it was pretty sick, and I couldn't say that I was unhappy with it. I mean, for John it would be nice, and also for Mahut, he also deserved to win through. It would be better if it was different, but...

TDF: Did you watch their whole match?

Thiemo de Bakker: I watched some, I didn't see the whole match. I was playing on the first day until they were 30-all. I saw some things, but not all.

TDF: You're one of the tennis players who joined Twitter recently (@thiemodebakker), tweeting mostly in Dutch to your fans. You liking Twitter so far?

Thiemo de Bakker: Yeah, I think it's just fun to get in contact with your fans, and reply to their messages, and if they have questions you can answer them. I think it's easy, doesn't take a lot of time. Yeah, I think it's good.

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TDF: You were the #1 junior in the world, and you won Junior Wimbledon. You've had a pretty successful transition to the ATP, had success and rising up pretty fast, whereas some players at the top of the junior game never have quite as much success in the ATP. What do you think has been able to help you make the transition better than some?

Thiemo de Bakker: It took me a while. I had some big problems in the beginning. My problem was that in the juniors, I never had to work for it. So I was, not lazy, because in matches I was working, but I didn't do the things outside, I didn't work hard in practice. I just saw [tennis] as a fun thing to do, and I was actually good at it. But then I came to a point where I had to work, because otherwise I'm not going to win. During that period I still went up on the rankings, but it could have gone faster. It made me what I am now, and I started playing well at the end of last year. In the last six months of the year I started to win challengers, and then it went really fast. This year in the ATP I think I'm pretty solid, didn't lose a lot of first round matches. But I think to make the next steps, I think I have to start to beat the big guys.

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Op dinsdag 17 augustus 2010 14:31 schreef Komakie het volgende:
Gewonnen van Monaco

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Op dinsdag 17 augustus 2010 15:36 schreef VerdwaasdeVogel2 het volgende:

[..]

Net uit blessure op supersnel hardcourt, maar toch, ja.

Hij doet het aardig op het hardcourt tot nu toe, wint een paar wedstrijdjes, compenseert enigszins voor de punten die hij in de challengers vorig jaar won.

Van Roddick winnen zou wel heel mooi zijn, trouwens. Dit keer heeft ie meer kans, met Roddick zijn Pfeiffer, gebrek aan ritme en training en zijn service lijkt wat minder de laatste tijd, terwijl Thiemo zijn service sinds Wimbledon zeer goed is.

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Op dinsdag 17 augustus 2010 15:36 schreef VerdwaasdeVogel2 het volgende:

[..]

Net uit blessure op supersnel hardcourt, maar toch, ja.

Hij doet het aardig op het hardcourt tot nu toe, wint een paar wedstrijdjes, compenseert enigszins voor de punten die hij in de challengers vorig jaar won.

Van Roddick winnen zou wel heel mooi zijn, trouwens. Dit keer heeft ie meer kans, met Roddick zijn Pfeiffer, gebrek aan ritme en training en zijn service lijkt wat minder de laatste tijd, terwijl Thiemo zijn service sinds Wimbledon zeer goed is.

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Op dinsdag 17 augustus 2010 20:11 schreef Outlined het volgende:
het verbaasd me dat thiemo zonder quali te hoeven spelen in het hoofdschema zat. Het is dan wel een 64 schema maar met verplichte byes.

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Op vrijdag 20 augustus 2010 17:24 schreef Norrage het volgende:
Ja voor het eerst een beetje klein toernooitje..eens kijken of hij daar wel potten kan breken...zo slecht speelt ie niet maar hij is gewoon nog een beetje bang ofzo....

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76 64 verloren, zat er dichtbij moet alleen op de belangrijke momenten wat beter spelen tegen de toppers!
5:04 AM Aug 19th via Twitter for BlackBerry®