Botic van de Zandschulp doubted his participation in Roland Garros due to physical discomfort. The 29-year-old Dutchman was defeated in the first round by the American Emilio Nava and does not know when he will be fit again.
“I didn’t expect much from it anyway,” says Van de Zandschulp after the match, among others to NU.nl. In the run-up to Roland Garros, the Veenendaler struggled with a groin injury, but it didn’t stop there.
“I also had a shoulder injury and now a stress fracture in my right bicep,” Van de Zandschulp continues. “I only really moved on the court for the first time on Monday.”
Yet Van de Zandschulp chose to travel to Paris. “I did have doubts about that, though. If it wasn’t a Grand Slam, I wouldn’t have played here.”
Even just before the match, the world number 89 still doubted his participation in the first round of the clay tournament. “It was still questionable whether I would play here today, but I did it anyway. If I had won that second set, I might have even reached the second round.”
Despite his clever comeback in the second set, the number three of the Netherlands did not manage to win a set. “Maybe it was all too tight this week,” Van de Zandschulp admits.
“Actually, resting is the only thing that helps, so that’s what I’m going to do now. I don’t know what my coming weeks will look like yet,” says Van de Zandschulp, who still earned 78,000 euros with his participation in Roland Garros.