How are the Dutch doing at Roland Garros?

Roland Garros 2023 has been underway for over a week now, and of the many players who were on the entry list at the start of the tournament, only a small number remain. The Dutch players who qualified for the singles event at Roland Garros 2023 have all been eliminated. However, some of their compatriots are still active in the doubles event. How have the Dutch performed at Roland Garros so far, and who is still in contention for the prizes? Sjeng Sports has the lowdown for you!

Van de Zandschulp falls early

For Botic van de Zandschulp, Roland Garros 2023 was a tournament to quickly forget. The top-ranked Dutchman faced Argentinian qualifier Thiago Augustin Tirante (ATP-153) in the first round and suffered a painful defeat in four sets. Tallon Griekspoor, on the other hand, survived the first round – albeit with some difficulty. The North Hollander faced Pedro Martinez and convincingly won the first set. His Spanish opponent then took control, winning the second (6-2) and third (6-0) sets effortlessly, after which it seemed like Griekspoor was finished. Yet, our compatriot fought back impressively and, by winning the final two sets 7-5 and 6-3, qualified for the second round.

In the second round, Hubert Hurkacz (ATP-14) was his opponent, and the match turned into a true thriller that ultimately lasted almost five hours. The Pole won the first set 6-3, after which Griekspoor took the second and third sets. In the fourth set, he served for the win at 5-4, but his serve was broken, after which Hurkacz ultimately won the tiebreak. Because the world number fourteen also won the fifth set, round two was ultimately the end for Griekspoor. At that point, the tournament was already over for Arantxa Rus, the only Dutch player in the women's singles schedule. Rus faced Julia Grabher (WTA-61) in the first round and lost 6-2/6-3 to her Austrian opponent.

More Dutch success in doubles

While Griekspoor managed to survive the first round in the singles, this was not the case in the doubles. Along with fellow countryman Bart Stevens, he lost in the first round to the duo of Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos. Robin Haase also lost in the first round of the doubles tournament. Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn proved too strong for the Dutchman, who played with Philipp Oswald. Matwé Middelkoop (with Andreas Mies) and Jean-Julien Rojer (with Marcelo Arevalo) did manage to win their matches, and because they both survived their second-round matches, the pairs faced each other in the quarterfinals. This match was won by Middelkoop and Mies (7-6/6-1), meaning they will face Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in the semifinals. Wesley Koolhof, along with his doubles partner Neal Skupski, failed to reach the semifinals. Granollers and Zeballos were too strong for the Dutch/British duo in the quarter-finals with a score of 6-3/7-6.

In the women's doubles, Demi Schuurs and her doubles partner Desirae Krawczyk made a bid for the title. In the first round, they convincingly defeated Cristina Bucsa and Alicja Rosolska (6-0/6-2), after which Jasmine Paolini and Martina Trevisan (6-2/6-2) also had to believe in the game. In the next round, however, the Dutch and the American proved no match for Su-Wei Hsieh and Xinyu Wang, meaning that Schuurs and her partner ended up in the round of 16. In the mixed doubles, Middelkoop is also the only Dutchman left. Together with his mixed partner Aldila Sutjiadi, he reached the quarterfinals. Rojer and Schuurs played together in this category, but were eliminated in the first match. Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Mate Pavic proved too strong with 6-3/6-4.