Tallon Griekspoor on Andy Murray’s influence in his life and Max Verstappen’s ‘COLOSSAL’ rise in the sporting circles
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Max Verstappen, Tallon Griekspoor, and Andy Murray
Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor has made a fantastic start to his 2023 season. He has made it to the quarterfinal of the Maharashtra Open and in the first two matches, is yet to drop a set. In the Round of 16, he defeated Italian Marco Cecchinato in straight sets 6-4,6-4 and didn’t lose his serve in the entire match. In the first round, he stunned 7th seed Jaume Munar.
Speaking to the media after his Round of 16 victory in Pune, Griekspoor talked in depth about his pre-season preparation and how he feels for the 2023 season. Last year, the Dutchman won a record-breaking 8 challenger tournaments and hence, also talked about the transition from the challenger tour to the main tour.
He said that winning those challenger events gave him a lot of confidence and helped him get into bigger tournaments. Despite that, he wasn’t completely satisfied with his results but after putting in a great pre-season, he believes that he is currently playing better than his rankings.
“It helped a lot. It helped my ranking a lot. It helped me to get into bigger tournaments. Last year wasn’t too great. Not too many wins, and so many injuries. So it wasn’t easy but feeling good now. I think I’m playing better than my ranking is at the moment so I’m confident for the season and I’m happy with the way it started,” Griekspoor said.
Griekspoor is hugely inspired by Andy Murray. When asked the reason behind it, Griekspoor said that it’s Murray’s mental strength that makes him so tough. Despite suffering a career-threatening knee injury, Murray still fights everyday to play at the highest level and that’s what inspired the Dutchman to strive for excellence every single day.
“I think it’s just mental strength at makes him so tough. Even now, when his body isn’t 100%, he is fighting till the last ball of the match. I struggled a lot with my body as well. Even on those bad days, you can make 100% out of yourself, you’re going to be a better player at the end of the day and that’s the most important thing,” he added.
Tallon Griekspoor on Max Verstappen’s popularity in Holland
Tennis isn’t the biggest sport in Holland and when asked to compare Formula 1 and Tennis in terms of popularity, Griekspoor said that motorsport is far ahead of tennis in The Netherlands. He added that Max Verstappen, who is the 2-time defending Formula 1 World Champion, is currently the biggest sportsman in Holland. He also said that slowly and steadiluy, Dutch tennis is heading in the right direction.
“Motorsport is far ahead of tennis. I think Verstappen is probably the biggest sportsman we have in Holland. In tennis, we’ve been doing pretty well lately. Botic is doing pretty well, Tim, who won the ATP in Holland last year which was really good for the sport and I think we have good guys coming around in the top 150. So hopefully, in a few years, we’ll have 5-6 guys in the top 100 so it looks better and better for us,” Griekspoor said.
Moving ahead, Griekspoor will face top seed Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals of the Maharashtra Open. After his week in India, he will head Down Under for the Australian summer leg.
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Lakshya Chopra
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