Jesper de Jong caused a surprise on Friday at the ATP tournament in Bastad. The world number 106 fought his way past his compatriot Tallon Griekspoor, who is 77 places higher in the world ranking, in three sets.
The 29-year-old Griekspoor had a tough task against the four-year-younger De Jong. Griekspoor did win the first set against De Jong, but that was it for the tennis player from Nieuw-Vennep. After 2 hours and 43 minutes, De Jong used his first match point on Griekspoor’s serve: 4-6, 7-6 (3), and 6-4.
It was the second time that Griekspoor and De Jong had met at ATP level. The first time was in the quarterfinals in Montpellier. Then De Jong won, so Griekspoor still had a score to settle.
In the first set, it was evenly matched between Griekspoor and De Jong, who know each other well and play together in the Dutch Davis Cup team. Both De Jong and Griekspoor conceded one service game early in the first set, after which Griekspoor placed another break at 4-4 and dragged the set to himself.
In the second set, both tennis players adhered to virtually the same course of play. At 2-2 Griekspoor used a break chance, after which he immediately surrendered that break lead again. De Jong forced Griekspoor to play a tiebreak, in which De Jong was the strongest.
De Jong back in top 100
De Jong took the confidence of the won tiebreak to the third and decisive set. By means of two breaks, he brought Griekspoor to his knees and won for the second time in his career against his compatriot, who is known as the best tennis player in the Netherlands.
In the semi-finals, De Jong will face the Argentinian Camilo Ugo Carabelli (ATP-59) or Filip Misolic from Austria, who will face each other later in the day. The semi-finals will take place on Saturday.
De Jong is still waiting for his first ATP title. Due to his semi-final place in Bastad, De Jong is back in the top hundred in the virtual world ranking. If he reaches the finals, he will even be in the top ninety.